Devil May Cry 5 - Equilibrium
by Orchidenia
Summary: Two years have passed after the events of DMC 4. This is when Nero's Devil Bringer gets out of control, and when Nero starts to become a danger to Fortuna. To it, Dante gets visited by Hera who entrusts him with a special job. It is about a new species who has to fulfill a 2,000 year old prophecy. Renewed chaos pervades the human world, and the troublemaker is not primary Mundus.
1. Mission 1 - Business

**Mission 1**

* * *

_Business_

* * *

The red rising sun illuminates the city and shines directly on the dark figures surrounding Dante. Demons. Even the shimmering of the sun on the surface of the skeletal demons does not make the creatures more beautiful.

"Time for my early-morning exercise ..." Dante says to himself while pushing up the sleeves of his long, burgundy leather coat, whose ends are made of thick cotton fabric, a little higher and reaches for his sword _Rebellion_ on his back.

The red leather coat as his distinguishing feature is equipped with a firmer material in the area of the shoulders, arms, and back, and is toned in a brighter red. Dante wears his coat open. Only the thick, dark brown belt attached to the coat, separating into three narrow pieces at the front, is buckled. This makes his black and casual T-shirt, covering his strong torso, at least somewhat recognizable. The coat collar consists of two pointed oval halves on each side and looks very princely due to its design and size.

Dante's opponents let their dreadful noises become quieter. He senses that the demons are preparing for a fight and focusing on him. As Dante slowly pulls up the sword behind his half-long, silver-white hair, the demons throw themselves at him. The creatures around him get cut up skillfully with his nimbly blows. Also the slower demons that reach Dante just now, trying to hurt him with their chains, blades, and scythes, suffer the same fate as their previously killed conspecifics.

"Is that it already?" Dante says questioningly to himself and looks up. "Almost."

More beings have gathered on the roofs of the houses to avenge their demon brothers. In the moment as the dark creatures jump off the roofs, Dante throws his demonic broadsword _Rebellion_ in the air. The sword rotates and cuts up the demons above him. Dante quickly reaches for his twin pistols _Ebony_ and _Ivory_ and perforates the remaining demons with a breathtaking fast hail of bullets. The demons fall to the ground dead and then dissolve into thin air. With perfect timing, he puts his dark and light pistol back into the gun holder and catches his falling sword.

"To my taste, the fight could've been even more action-packed ..." The demon hunter says as he lets his sword disappear on its original place.

"Have you killed the critters already?"

Dante hears Lady's voice from a short distance and turns around.

She wears a fashionable white blazer with three-quarter sleeves and padded shoulders that barely covers the upper abdominal area. The garment is decorated with flame-like ornaments and presents a beautiful décolleté. In the neckline of the blazer, Lady stores black-tinted sunglasses. Despite the short outerwear, her taut belly is not to see because it is covered by the high waistband of her hot pants consisting of fabric. The pants is held in place by a grey belt. The scarred thighs do not harm the beautiful look of this woman. The scars rather reflect Lady's hardness which she reveals when needed. Her black, chin-length hair is, typical for her, cheekily styled. In addition to the small, silver necklace with a red stone as a pendant, it is her dark orange boots with wedge heel and lacing that stand out in color from the complete style of dress. The chain attached to the left side of the short pants moves wildly around as she finally reaches Dante and stops in front of him.

"Looks like ..." Dante replies with an untroubled grin. "I killed those in the house earlier. Did you want to _dance along_?"

"Of course I wanted to! It certainly would've been more fun than to bring that old man to safety and to calm him down ...", Lady says annoyed.

"Sorry, I would've let you fight the demons but he was so scared and it looked like female assistance was just right for him. Good customer service is _so_ important!"

"What if you took care of customer service next time?! I don't have any patience left for that!"

"Good to know. Then we'll practice that for the future. Should the customer be a beautiful woman, I'll gladly take over."

Lady fakes a smile. "Maybe we better leave that part entirely up to Trish ..."

"Party killer ..." Dante notes and keeps smiling.

"... You should've left some for me! I only came along 'cuz of the high number of demons. The job sounded so exciting!"

Lady's voice is determined. Her heterochromatic eyes, with the right eye blue and the left bronze, sparkle furiously. Since they are painted with a brown-silver eye shadow, her eyes have more luminosity which supports her grim, otherwise so soft expression. The scar on her nose increases that effect even more.

All of these impressions would surely make a stranger pay respect to her. Not to mention the many handguns, grenades, and ammunition she carries on her body; especially the big and dangerous rocket launcher.

Since Dante is generally unimpressed by many things, however, the look at Lady's grim face does not concern him much, so that he quips:

"Someone has to ensure the client's safety and if you need that long for it, I can't just stand around twiddlin' my thumbs! The demons are far too temptin' for that ..."

"Okay, I think it's better if each of us carries out his own jobs, just like before. This way we ensure that none of us gets in the other's way. Otherwise, it's gonna backfire. You gonna do all of these things with Trish again. Done deal."

"For all I care", Dante says, shrugging his shoulders indifferently.

"But to make one thing certain: The money for this job is _mine_. All of it. Even though you've killed the demons."

Dante laughs. "Whose business is this, sweetheart?"

"And who's in debt with whom?"

The teasing of the two is interrupted by the loud voice of an old man:

"Hey! Are they ... gone?!"

Lady and Dante turn their eyes from each other and stare at the old man peering out of a half-open car window a few yards away.

"Everythin's fine! The demons are gone and you can go back to your house!" Lady calls out to the old man in an irritated undertone.

"Thank you very much!" The man replies. As he tries to get up from the seat, however, he weakly sinks back into the car seat. "Sorry, I'm not the youngest anymore! My dear, could you help me up, please?!"

"Sure ..." Lady sighs.

"... C'mon! Don't let our client wait too long, and pick up your well-deserved money. Maybe he gonna fork out some extra money for your special treatment. I'm off. But hey! The money you get will be subtracted from my debts completely, got it?"

First, Dante had another provocation on his tongue. After further consideration, however, he decided not to waste his breath for that. To let Lady take the money would probably work out better for him. In the end it is her having the upper hand and if Dante's business partner was to cut off his money supply, even if it was for a manageable time period to teach the demon hunter a lesson, things could get uncomfortable.

Lady's facial features relax. "Don't worry. I'll consider every penny, but there'll be still an impressive sum to pay off."

She corrects the position of her rocket launcher _Kalina Ann_, carrying over her left shoulder, by circling it backwards and by pushing the strap attached to the weapon a little further up. Both of her hands are equipped with a dark brown half-glove which only covers the fingers. Then she turns her back on Dante, showing the grey leather part of her blazer with that, and finally moves towards the old man.

* * *

The red neon sign of the _Devil May Cry_ office literally blinds Dante's ice-blue eyes as he walks to the front door. The sun makes the sign look even brighter than it already is. Dante opens the door and the first thing he sees is Trish sitting on his desk in her usual dark outfit, telephoning, and with her legs crossed.

"I'll tell him. See you!" Are the last words of the lean and beautiful woman as she hangs up.

With an elegant grin, she watches Dante closing the door and stepping into the old-fashioned office designed in a rock style.

"What are you gonna tell me?" Dante asks and heads for the wooden chest of drawers on the right side of the room to place his pistols on it.

"That we've just received an invitation to Fortuna Island", Trish says and follows Dante's movements with her eyes.

"Nah! From Nero?" Dante says in a surprised tone and moves around his desk.

He leans his sword against the wall and the nearby cabinet. After that, he takes a seat on his _throne_.

"No, not from Nero, but from his better half."

Trish has already corrected her sitting position to look at Dante. She grasps her upper leg and with that, her black painted fingernails become visible.

"Kyrie, huh?" Dante says and puts his long, muscular legs on the old wooden desk and crosses them.

The demon hunter's leather pants have a color gradient that begins with a dark brown at the thighs, changes into a dark red at the knees, then transitions into a brighter one, and ends with a dark gray in the tibia region. Furthermore, the pants are tighter on the calves than on the thighs. His black, loosely tied boots shine in the light of the ceiling lamp. They have a wide hem, are equipped with a buckle, and the toe cap is tinted with a more intense black.

"Does she take good care of him?" Dante continues speaking and puts his hands on the back of his head. Each hand is wrapped in a black half glove of soft leather.

Trish's reddish made up lips, that provide a good contrast to her particularly fair complexion and her shadowed, ice-blue eyes, widen to a bigger grin.

"Apparently, because, as she told me, both are doing fantastic, and so does Fortuna. After the demons had left a lot of chaos there two years ago, the citizens of Fortuna joined forces to repair the damage on the island and rebuilt the city. The _Order of the Sword _does no longer exist, as well as any _Sparda worship_. I'm sorry, Dante."

As usual, Trish is dressed in a black leather corset, so that her shoulders as well as her upper back are bare. Only her long blond hair cover the area of the upper back a bit. The seam of the corset on the upper hem is thick and rugged. That does not only provide a better hold but is also a subtle and beautiful decoration. The design repeats on her waist. A thin and light-colored fabric extends on the front side, forming a zigzag pattern. It is embroidered with white, grey, and black pearls. The tight, black leather pants of Dante's companion contain a white, diamond-shaped floral ornament at the hip bones. Matching the corset, the pants also have a thick seam on both outer sides. Instead of a classic leather belt, Trish wears a belt made of silk to lace up. It shows similar patterns as those on her pants. The black boots with low and thick heels make a noble impression. She wears a tight silver chain with big rings around her neck, and leather bracelets are laced around both her forearms.

"Well, my father has to deal with those less fans. Maybe I'll have my peace and quiet someday ..."

"I doubt that, but further on: Fortuna is now headed by a newly formed organization called _Golden Fortuna_. Guess who's the leader ..."

"Don't tell me it's Nero!"

"Oh yes, it's Nero."

"Ha! That rascal as an Organization's boss. I'd love to see that."

"This means we'll wait for Lady to come back, so she can watch the office, and we'll leave?"

"That's exactly how we do it!"


	2. Mission 2 - Known Faces

**Mission 2**

* * *

_Known Faces_

* * *

_F__ortuna_. It was two years ago when Dante first entered the island with all its secrets and ancient customs which were hidden inside impressive, historic buildings. Shortly after Sanctus' downfall, he already knew he would see _cheeky Nero_ again someday. In the end, paths always crosses twice in life. The demon hunter only did not expect the reunion to be a _planned_ one as it is in the present case. He is rather used to be at the mercy of fate and to meet old acquaintances unforeseen.

Trish and Dante are moving through the city center. The high number of residents in this area is conspicuous, as well as their clothing style. _Modernness_ seems to be their new dress code. Jeans, T‑shirts, dresses, blouses; no trace of religious or traditional cowls.

After a few feet of walk, Dante can identify a young, slim woman with shoulder-length, reddish brown hair and a white-silver-haired, young man who are standing near a golden gate: Kyrie and Nero.

"Welcome back to Fortuna Island!" Nero says with a broad grin which is at least as big as that of Kyrie.

"Here we are again", Dante replies whilst smiling and stops in front of the hosts together with Trish. "You'd think all the mess of that time never happened as neat and undamaged as everythin' looks all round here."

His gaze wanders over the heads of Kyrie and Nero up to the sky to which the arched roof of the opera house reaches. In total beauty, it overshadows all the other buildings of Fortuna.

"You couldn't give us any better compliment. We wanted our good old Fortuna back, just without that _holy order-shit_, but with more safety, and _slightly_ more modern."

Nero puts his left arm around Kyrie's shoulder. With that he makes his hand, that is fitted with a dark grey mitt, and also the black long leather bracelet on his forearm partially disappear behind his girlfriend.

"Safety is a good cue. Those _minders_ are everywhere ..."

Dante focuses on the background and therewith two men who are dressed in blue and black and are equipped with swords and firearms. They are standing in front of the gate. Shortly after the demon hunter's arrival in Fortuna, Dante has noticed the use of guards.

"Yeah and it's good to have 'em! You know, life is easier and more relaxed without demons", Nero jokes. "Such an incident like then mustn't happen a second time. Well, now and then, some demons come into the city, but they don't survive for long 'cuz my boys and girls have what it takes! Even outside of Fortuna, it gets around how great it is to live here. Our population has even doubled with all the immigrants and births!"

While Nero is talking, Kyrie looks up to him with her decent made-up fawn brown eyes. They are sparkling.

"We've noticed the crowded streets. That's horrible!" Dante laughs.

"You see. And a huge population needs all the more protection."

Dante's whole attention now belongs to the young man's demonic arm whose intense luminosity has been penetrating his field of view all along. The shining of the _Devil Bringer_ blinds strongly in the demon hunter's eyes. Nero's dark clothing, which, by and large, matches the guards' style, makes the arm look even more glaring.

Nero's black and plain denim coat reaches to the hollow of his knees. The sleeves are rolled up to the elbows. Black are also his tight cargo pants and the heavy boots. The upper body is protected by a well-fitting muscle armor made of midnight blue steel. Underneath the body protection, Nero wears a light shirt of the same color whereby the left end of the shirt is tucked into his pants and the right side hangs out casually. His hair style is similar to that of the past, only that his hair is a bit shorter today.

Compared to Nero, Kyrie is dressed in light colors. This is what Dante recognizes as he takes a look at her and therewith _inspecting_ her clothing style.

It consists of a simple dark brown leather jacket, a dusky pink, form-fitting top, a knee-length, white, and floaty pleated skirt with a dark brown cord belt as well as of dark brown ankle boots. She is adorned with a necklace whose pendant consists of a shimmering red, elongated ruby surrounded by four golden wings.

"Tell me, how the hell did you manage to become an organization's leader? The people wouldn't possibly endure that without any threat or bribery", Dante finally says, relaxed as ever. "Wait, I've got it! You threatened them with getting haunted by your demon arm at night if they weren't to accept you as a leader!"

Nero's grin becomes even broader while Kyrie's face changes into an obviously sad one.

"How much I've missed your dumb jokes ..." Nero starts to say. "First of all, I'm not the _leader_, but the _head_ of _Golden Fortuna_. _Leader_ sounds so strict. And second, it was a majority and entirely free decision of the folks. The Organization was intended to only be a temporary solution in the first place until we had found a firm government. But somehow the folks liked my concepts and ideas, so we left it with the Organization and just improved it further."

"That sounds so _harmonious_ ..." Dante says in a dreamy voice.

"It is. Sanctus is forgotten, and with him all the power games and manipulation that he caused." Now it is Kyrie who begins to speak. "Nero has a magic touch for something like that, and the whole island perceives it."

She bestows a glance on her love which Nero returns.

Even before Dante has the opportunity to express how kitschy the situation is becoming, a vague bang sounds from far away. As he turns around, he sees bright sparks trickling from the sky which then fade.

"Fuck ..." Nero utters.

His view freezes in the seemingly endless horizon. He releases the grip on Kyrie's shoulder and his hand slides down her back.

"What was that tiny, cute firework for?" Dante asks while looking sidewise at Nero and pointing his left thumb in the direction the event has came from.

"A distress signal ... From the Northeast ..." Nero frees himself from rigidity as he shouts out, "Tyron!"

The sudden loud call makes Kyrie jerk.

From the high fountain of the well far behind the gate, a young man with brown, short hair, who also wears the organization's colors, is emerging. At least the distance makes it seem as if he is stepping out of the well's fountain. In fact, he must have been positioned in front of the opera house the whole time.

Both of the fighters behind Kyrie and Nero open the golden passage for the hurrying man.

"Nero?!" He says with a slight tension as he stops next to his superior.

His stature shows similarities to that of Nero.

"I'll go and check. Please take care of Kyrie."

"Gotcha" The fighter, Tyron, complies and puts his hands, which are embedded in black leather gloves, on Kyrie's shoulders like Nero did a few moments ago, but much more cautiously. "It'll be best to take you to the _House of Fraternity_."

During this brief moment, the initials _CTF-1_ embroidered in gold in the chest area of the dark blue leather jacket of the man become obviously to Dante's eyes. The rest of the fighter's uniform consists, probably typically for the Organization, of black boots and cargo pants whose fabric, in his case, is dyed midnight blue. It is not possible to identify if his upper body is protected by a muscle armor too as he wears his leather jacket, that reaches just over the belt area, closed and the neck is covered by a black and white scarf.

When the fighter wants to move the young woman through the gate, Kyrie offers resistance. She pays attention to her boyfriend.

"Be careful", She says ultimately.

Nero only answers with a quick nod.

Kyrie now lets the man escort her through the gate.

Dante's eyes remain for a short time on the fighter's sword which the young man carries across his entire back because the appearance of the weapon is extraordinary and at the same time impressive. The blade is shaped like a branch from which several small twigs emerge. A blue energy flows in its central, as if it were a vein of the blade. Below the melee weapon, a gray rifle is seeable. Its holster is fastened around the man's left shoulder and around his waist. The many leather straps of the holster also ensure the sword's fastening.

Finally, Dante desists from staring at the weapon of the young organizational member and looks sideways to Trish who returns the gaze. After a silent communication, solely conducted by glances, Dante brings up to Nero:

"We'd love to play along."

"I thought so", He replies. " I don't even mind your help. Follow me!"

Nero starts moving and the two demon hunters rush behind him, following the golden initials "_GF"_ embroidered in the back of his jeans coat.

On the way to their destination, countless anxious and panicking people are noticeable. Some of them are screaming, screeching or just appearing confused. The fighters of the Organization are trying to calm the citizens, to accommodate them in the nearby buildings, and at the same time to clear the way for their _chief_ and the demon hunters following him.

"Hey you!" Nero shouts out to a six-man troop further ahead as they slow down their speed and look back to him. "We take over! Help the others to bring the folks to safety!"

"But we're the backup! Are you sure?!" One of the fighters responds.

Arriving near the reinforcement, Nero also slows down for a moment.

"Yeah. Back. Now", He says in a harsh tone before sprinting off.

The streets get emptier the longer the trio moves. Moreover, the building density reduces. Finally, they enter a gray-green mountainous region which they could already notice from afar in addition to all the tall buildings. Sounds that cannot be emitted by humans are becoming increasingly louder. Passing the stony and bumpy region, it leads them near a valley on which they are now looking down. In the depth, the battlefield with all its _noisemakers_ reveals itself. They stream out of a lake extending in the valley withal and attack the four obviously outnumbered organizational members.

"Are you insane?!" Nero yells, makes a long leap forward subsequently, and lands on a rock suitable for a short stopover.

He continues on his way and repeats this procedure until he has arrived at the scene of the event in order to immediately participate in the fight. Dante and Trish also use their supernatural abilities and venture down.

Having entered the battlefield as well, Dante turns his attention to the demons that have just emerged from the water as Nero is already helping out his colleagues together with Trish. Dante only briefly reduces his actions in the fight against the beings and interestedly observes the organizational members at work. Above all, his sight lingers on their swords looking as spectacular as that of Tyron.

Dante would love to know if those could also keep up with Nero's sword when it comes to special features. At the moment he cannot perceive anything like that. The organizational members only wield their weapons around without any big effect. But only for those extravagant blades, they certainly would have been an honor to the former _Order of the Sword_.

The demon hunter now devotes himself completely to the clown-like demons surrounding him by which he is meanwhile pestered. They are easily and quickly eliminated with quick sword strokes. Now he focuses on the slower demons looking like skeletons. They are similar to the demons from the day before.

Stronger opponents already emerge from the lake. They are twice as big as Dante himself, black-armored on the back, and they use huge blades as weapons. Even this enemy type as well as the clown-like demons is nothing new to Dante as he already made do with them on his very first visit to Fortuna Island.

By the time one of the beings reveals its sensitive frontal body part, Dante takes the opportunity and stabs into it several times. Especially the last attack is his strongest one. This makes the demon lose its balance so that he stumbles backwards. Trish does the rest as the creature crosses her field of vision.

The remaining demons of this type are also attacked with alternating stylish and fast sword strokes, targeted on their frontal body part. One of the two creatures succeeds in lifting its mighty blade up in order to let it crash on Dante. A _Son of Sparda_, however, does not accept such an approach, so he storms, with his sword ahead, towards the sensitive demon's body to sting his weapon dramatically in. The demon cannot withstand this energetic, powerful attack and staggers backwards. It is a boulder making him tip over. An earthquake, which vibration Dante can feel below his feet, is the consequence of its fall.

Just after that, huge pieces of rocks dissolve from the stony walls and rush into the depths. In order to protect himself and the other organizational members from the rocks, Nero chooses a different approach than Dante and Trish who can dodge the rocks by using skillful jumps. The young organization's head concentrates all his strengths and cuts every rock with his modernized sword. Thus, all the combatants succeed in their own way to remain unharmed by the rocks that have come loose. Only a few demons, as well as the one that has triggered the landslide, get carried away by the rocks and thus _transported_ back into the water they came from.

After the landslide has gradually subsided, Nero takes the opportunity for a sweeping blow as the demons, that are still alive, try to _get their bearings_. With his sword loaded, he now storms towards the horde consisting of clown-like and skeletal demons and hits them with powerful strikes, igniting a powerful firestorm. While Dante is annihilating the last armored demon, those around Nero are reducing to ashes.

A silent moment opens up which Nero fills with his heavy breathing. Very soon his breath, however, is drowned out by further demon sounds. Now it is reptile-like creatures shooting out of the water in a great arc and landing well spread on the rock walls. They pause and make it seem as if they are looking at their supposed prey and agree among themselves who will receive what portion of it.

The snout of the demons is azure blue and resembles a crocodile in shape. Bushy, dark gray hair grow on the bottom of their mouth. The bright yellow eyes, in turn, could originate from lizards, as moveable and big as they are. In the body region, the blue color changes into an even more striking one: bilious green is the two meters tall and scaly body with innumerable long spines on the back. Their strong tail is pointed and dangerous. Crooked and overgrown, sharp needles which could consist of ivory emerge from their tail ends. The long claws on the elongated forelegs and on the short hind legs could be of the same material as well as their huge teeth.

"Doesn't that ever stop?!" Nero shouts out furiously. "C'mon! Why are you sitting around like that? Show me what you've got!"

Responding to Nero's provocation, over a dozen creatures jump swiftly down from rock to rock. Meanwhile, the fighters of the Organization provide concentrated firepower. For the demons, however, it is easy to avoid the hail of bullets. Finally, they make a big leap forward and lunge themselves at their opponents; most of the horde at Nero. Therewith, the battlefield is reopened.

"No!" One of the organizational members yells.

A creature has caught a woman of the combat squad who must have stood sideways and isolated from her fellow combatants. Thereupon, Nero's fighting style becomes more aggressive. Violently he batters the beings around him with his melee weapon when suddenly an immense firestorm emanates from that. This conflagration is even more powerful than the one he caused before; as if he could summon hell and bring it into the human world - this impressive the attack looks.

Dante is also distracted by these techniques for a short while as he deals nimbly strokes to his opponents. The sword of the young man must have been optimized during the past two years since Dante could not notice such a fighting strength in the duel against him back then.

Two of Dante's enemies suddenly jump back only to throw their bodies forward again. Protecting himself with his broadsword by holding it in front of him, he skillfully is able to retaliate the attacks and to throw the creatures against one of the many high mountains after they have hit the blade. Despite the beings' rough contact with the hard rock, another landslide does not happen.

All around Nero, there is nothing left but ash. Still a flame, resulting from his powerful attack, blazes in front of him. Even this little flame is used by Nero for further action. With a sweeping blow, he passes the burning tide on the beings thrown back by Dante, so that these demons dissolve too.

"Hey! Those were mine!" Dante exclaims slightly puzzled and points at the appropriate spot.

The young head of _Golden Fortuna_, however, is not in the mood for joking. Instead, without any comment, he takes on the remaining five demons who are rebelling against the organizational members. Trish is already supporting.

Nero darts at the creatures and takes over the fight completely as he violently smashes them with his _Devil Bringer_. The demon he has hit last and therewith catapulted into the air is immediately pulled back again with a summoned extension of the demonic arm by grabbing the creature's right hind leg. Wildly he hurls it around and hits the demons that are already surrounding him again. This causes the creatures to fall back again, and at the same time they get _supplied with their crony_ as Nero let go of the demon; so the other demons get hit by one of their kind. Nero switches to the devil mode to increase the firing power of his revolver which he has pulled out of his holster attached to his hips. Attacking from the distance, he ends the parade of the demons, and they finally dissolve.

Again, there is silence. Temporarily. Large shadows spread above the combatants' heads. This time it is Mephistos that keep up the flood of demons and therewith testing Nero's nerves and patience.

He continues fighting with his revolver and fires, not hesitating a second, countless shots. The resulting loudness attracts all of the demons, so they float over to him. Nero's offensive fighting style lasts until the black and already ragged cloak of two beings dissolves, uncovering their small, elongated, and red body which then fall to ground like a stick. While this happens, the hovering demons keep Nero in check, making use of their extended claw finger. To block the demons' attack is now Nero's only activity. Using his _Devil Bringer_, he grabs one of the over-dimensional fingers of one creature to push it back. This jerky movement makes the Mephisto whirling in the air.

Dante cannot bear seeing these two pristine demonic bodies lying on the ground. He is aware of the fact that letting them lie on the ground would help the demons to gather their strength and rise up in the air in their original shape again. Any diligence of weakening the demons to that form would then have been in vain. So he sprints towards the _naked demons_, as if they would call for his sword, to destroy them with that blade in no time. This act of Dante shall also serve as a little revenge to Nero who dared to attack _his demon crowd_.

Nero has noticed Dante's _accomplishment_ and casts a venomous look on the demon hunter, devoting it to the rest of the Mephistos afterwards. Dante can only surmise how dogged Nero must be to let any demon die by his hand solely. He shows his generosity by leaving the three remaining demons to the young chief.

The Mephisto that was _sent on travel_ through the air has in the meantime rejoined his demon brothers. United again, they undertake a simultaneous attack and flail back and forth with their body's own weapons. Although Nero can elude every single time, his attack possibilities are drastically reduced because of this. Seemingly strained far too much to be able to demonstrate a strategic combat behavior, Nero once again relies on his demonic form to put an end to the devils' activities. Just by invoking the devil mode, the creatures retreat reverently, so that Nero now has room for his actions. He bends his knees and brings his right leg far forward for a stable stand. Then he pulls his sword past the back leg, preparing for a final blow, as it will be, and dashes it forward forcefully. The blue beam of light emitted by his melee weapon sweeps across the three Mephistos, drawing a powerful gust of wind with it. Silence.

Dissolving his unmistakable form, Nero breathes rapidly while looking around. Dante's eyes linger on the big lake as Nero's attention wanders there also. Is the rush of the demons really over yet? Apparently, since another wave of demons does not follow.

The young man's knees give way and his body sinks to the ground. Quickly, the three remaining fighters approach him. Dante and Trish consider the situation from the distance. As Nero's colleagues bend down to their chief, he nods. Probably telling them that he is well and does not need any help.

"The kid seems to have overexerted himself a little ..." Dante says.

"Yeah, he definitely did give free rein to his rage. But I would be upset, too, knowing that all the time and effort I put into rebuilding my home island had been for nothing if demons were about to destroy it again ... And if I then lost one of my people ..." Trish replies who, like Dante, must have noticed that Nero is starring at the body of the fallen female fighter not far from him.

The Organization's head stands up and moves slowly towards the lifeless body as he crouches down next to her. Dante and Trish eventually approach as well. The uniform of the dead fighter is destroyed completely due to the numerous bite and scratch wounds and reveals the battered, bloodstained body. Her eyes are frozen and her red, long hair lie widely spread on the hard ground, soaked by blood.

"Why didn't you wait for the backup to arrive? Some of 'em hadn't even made it up there ..." Nero says without any vigor, but with a sad mood.

"We were on top of the rocks and made sure the demons wouldn't come any closer to the city but when more and more of 'em appeared, Alma insisted on goin' down. If we hadn't come with her, she would've fought the demons all by herself. We couldn't have let that happen!" One of the fighters elucidates.

"I see ..." Nero responds, only to then bid farewell to his colleague, "Now you've died for Fortuna, just as you always wanted to if the time had come. But together we could've handled the situation differently. We could've _planned_ anythin' better. You shouldn't have died today, Alma."

He gently moves his hand over her opened eyes, closing them forever.

"To avoid such accidents, we urgently must have a conference. On this very day. Also, we need more people on this post just to be on the safe side in case demons show up again. Can you please take care of that and let Raul know? I'll arrange an appropriate funeral ..." Nero continues speaking and slightly looks up to his colleagues.

"Yeah ...", The same fighter replies and gasps worriedly.

"Damn it!" Another man of the Organization who has already dissociated himself from the group shouts and kicks angrily against one of the countless rocks.

"... Please also make sure that he doesn't worry too much about it. It wasn't his fault. He couldn't help her no more. It was a shitty situation."

"We do our best. But I can relate to how he must be feelin' right now. I'd blame myself, too. From all of us, he stood the closest to her. She died right before his eyes", The other fighter says.

"Just pep him up 'til the conference as good as you can. I'd give him some time off but I need each one of you."

"Okay."

"Thanks ... Now go, please", Nero finally says as the fighters keep on staying next to him.

As instructed by their head, the organizational members walk away and approach their churned colleague to give him a fleeting consolation and to then, together in a three-pack, make their way out of the valley and up to the mountain region.

"Do you have any idea why the demons came rushin' out of that fuckin' lake?! That was almost as many demons as back then!"

Nero's words are addressed to Dante, accompanied by irritation.

"There were a hell of a lot of 'em; indeed ... I'm sorry but I don't got a clue why they were that crazy about the lake. It's curious, though. Maybe there's a portal or somethin' at the bottom of it? Well, whether we like it or not, but somethin' seems to be brewin' in the demon world ..."

"Oh, that's _fantastic_ news ...!"

Nero stands up and stares at the water. He focuses on the lake so intensely that one could think his mind had got lost in it. Eventually, he manages to free himself from rigidity and grabs a hand-sized stone on the ground. He throws it into the air a few times, only to catch it again and again. After several repetitions, he tosses the stone forward and lets it splash into the lake. As the stone plunges in, a large circle forms on the surface of the water which expands more and more. Aside of that, nothing else happens.

Nero bends down to the corpse. He raises the upper body of the dead fighter a little bit to be able to put his hand behind her upper back. With the demon arm, he grabs below the back of her knees. Carrying her over the threshold, he stands up again. Her arms hang limply down and her head is tilted back.

"I gotta get things done, like takin' precautions and preparin' my people for the worst. That's why I must leave now and send you back to the city and to Kyrie alone. Please tell her that the incident is over, and that she's nothin' to worry about. I'll tell her everythin' when I'm back home. I may be late."

He moves away from Dante and Trish and walks along the right side of the water.

"Oh!" Nero exclaims and turns to the demon hunters, "Um ... Thanks for your help! If things should get really bad here ... Can I count on both of you again?"

"Only if the payment is better this time ...! Back then, it was just miserable!" Dante replies quick like a shot.

He remembers the minimalistic bundle of money that was stored in the silver suitcase Trish received from Fortuna and presented to the demon hunter.

Dante's and Trish's faces are serious. This, in turn, makes Nero's face freeze for a short time. He probably has not expected such a reaction. However, when Dante loosens his facial expression and moves up the corner of his mouth, and Trish also starts grinning, Nero's features relax as well. Eventually, _the youth_, as Nero is in Dante's eyes, turns away completely and continues along his path.

"Do you really think it's time for Mundus to wake up from his beauty sleep already?" Trish asks as she and Dante watch Nero making his way up with the body in his arms.

"Well, how else would you interpret the attack from just now?"

"Hm", Trish only replies at first. She pauses for a moment before she continues, "Wouldn't it be a bit early for his standards ...?"

"Maybe he just realized that a beauty sleep won't help him in becomin' beautiful. So why sleepin' on?"

In the meanwhile, Nero has arrived at a towering rock. Trish and Dante see him laying down the body, moving away from it, and looking down at the water. He stands at the edge of the mountain, positioned exactly parallel to the lake. Then he takes a few steps back to ram his _Devil Bringer_ aggressively in the stony earth. He deals countless blows as if he was overcome by a delusion.

"Is that his way of venting or what the hell is he doing?" The blonde demon hunter says.

"I have a guess ..." Dante replies.

Trish darts a skeptical and questioning glance at him.

Above, cracks form in the rock. On and on, they run down towards the lake. A huge part of the ledge gradually begins to slide down as it suddenly breaks off and rushes into the depths, right into the water. A great wave is the result of it, and the water whips against the stony ground. The flood reaches to the demon hunters' feet to then set back. Due to the immense impact of the loosened rock on the lake bottom, another landslide occurs which, fortunately, is not comparable to the previous one.

"And the big bathtub is plugged now. At least a part of it."

Dante looks at the edgy mountain protruding from the water and occupying more than a half of the lake.

"No idea if this will help, but it's worth a try!" Nero shouts.

His voice is carried as an echo from mountain to mountain down to the demon hunters. Then he devotes himself again to the dead body and leaves with it.

"I don't think this will impress the demons much ..." Trish says before turning her body and choosing the opposite direction of Nero.

Instead of following his partner, Dante comes closer to the lake and picks up flat stones. Dante also aims at the lake like Nero did but instead of throwing them into the water, he let them hop over the water surface. The stones make wide and quick jumps, passing the _troublemaker_, the big part of the mountain in the lake.

"Are you coming or is this place your new playground?!" Trish exclaims.

The sudden sound of Trish's voice makes Dante wince slightly. However, that is still enough for getting his throw deflected.

The stone quickly makes its way directly towards the rock anchored in the lake and bounces against it. Dante follows the stone's trajectory with his eyes while shouting out to Trish, "It's all your fault!"

Far behind Dante and on the right, the stone finally lands on the ground. Therewith, an interesting object lying between two rocks comes into Dante's focus. He heads towards those _something _with wonder.

"What is it this time?!" Trish is getting impatient.

"... A new toy for me!" Dante replies, looking closer at the item.

The object could represent a metallic copy of one of the colorful reptilian creatures Dante and Co. fought against just a few moments ago. The figure bites its tail and forms a ring. Because of the many prickles and claws, it is reminiscent of a saw blade which is approximately three-quarters of Dante's body size.

He picks up the weapon by grabbing the blunt and thus harmless inner surface of the object's hole and returns to the vicinity of the lake. With his right wrist, he makes the weapon circling. It does not take a long time and the weapon starts rotating automatically. Dante builds up momentum with his body and pulls his hand out of the weapon. In a wide curve, it comes hurtling towards the upper rock Nero destroyed. The countless knives cut through the rock like butter. After doing its work, the _saw blade-like thing_ dashes back to Dante.

When it is close in front of him, he takes out his sword and inserts its blade into the ring of the newly acquired weapon with perfect timing. The object still spins rapidly around its own axis. Because of the inserted blade, however, it cannot move ahead any further.

With the saw blade _dancing_ around the point of his sword, Dante lowers his melee weapon, pulls it back and, like a golf club, swings it forward in an enormous pace.

The rotating weapon frees itself from the blade and speeds in a vertically and approximately middle position towards the mountain sticking out of the water. With renewed ease, the weapon slides upwards through the rock and continues cutting the gigantic stone behind that is already marked from Dante's previous attack.

The dangerous ring shoots out of the rock and several feet high in the air and once again makes its way back to its owner, flying ever lower, while the cut colossal pieces of rock shift and finally give way to gravity. They thunder onto the lake and smother the waves that were just about to spread.

The weapon hurtles right back to Dante. A few inches before his face, he can stop the movement and rotation of the _special saw blade_ by pressing his palms together in time. He lowers his arms and proudly looks at his work. The entire lake is buried.

After bringing his attention to the ring-shaped weapon, he must note, to his regret, all its damages, such as bent blades and a dented material. Thus rendered useless to Dante, he throws the weapon sideways into the rocks.

"Finished playing?" Trish grins as Dante moves towards her.

* * *

Arriving back in the center, not a trace of hectic and turmoil is recognizable anymore. The inhabitants have returned to the streets in the meantime. However, there are far fewer of them than before the demon attack. Also the fighters of the Organization are back on their posts or walk their routes.

"That guy who was supposed to take Kyrie to safety mentioned somethin' 'bout a _House of Fraternity_", Dante says as he and Trish head to the place where the meeting with Nero and Kyrie took place.

"Yeah, I think he did mean the opera house. At least the two of them walked that way."

"Nice name. Let's try it there then."

There is no need for asking the two fighters standing in front of the golden gate to open it for them because they automatically let the demon hunters pass. Dante and Trish move past the well, whose fountain reaches several feet high, to then enter the pompous building.

The large hall extending in front of them is, as in those days, furnished with several benches. At the end of the room, there is a big stage. That must be new.

Kyrie sits on one of the many benches. In front of her stands Tyron with his arms crossed whom Dante meanwhile already recognizes from a distance. The modern, blue, and branch-like sword is much too conspicuous to not associate it with the bearer.

The loud noise of the slamming door behind the demon hunters attracts the attention of Kyrie and Tyron. Nero's girlfriend jumps up and hurries towards Dante and Trish.

"How is it out there?! Where is Nero?! Is he okay?!"

Tyron also starts moving, but much slower and more relaxed.

"Everythin's alright", Dante replies succinctly.

"Nero is doing well, too. He asked us to tell you that he may be home late. He has certain things to care of", Trish adds.

"... _Certain things to care of?_ For what reason? What happened out there exactly?"

"There was a _minor incident,_ but Nero will tell you everything when he gets back home. At least that's what he said", Trish replies.

Suddenly, the big gate of the building opens again. An Organization's man stands in the doorway.

"Tyron, you are to come to HQ immediately. A conference is comin' up."

"Oh, okay!" Tyron says. "Can I leave you alone, Kyrie?"

She nods in confusion and turns to the organizational member who has stormed into the room. "Shouldn't I attend as well?"

"Nero ordered the conference with the heads of the Security Council exclusively. He didn't mention another one. Shall I inquire some information?" The fighter replies.

"No, it's okay, thanks ..." Kyrie reacts nervously.

"Okay, see you then!" Tyron says, first looking at Kyrie, who is barely able to slightly smile back, then at Trish, and finally at Dante as he steps through the door held open by his colleague.

Dante watches Tyron walking away and especially focuses on his exclusive sword.

_"I'd love to see him fightin'. That weapon must have some cool functions"_, Are the words that come to his mind.

Saluting shortly, the fighter who has joined the group also says goodbye and leaves the building, whereupon the door shuts.

"Well, then you have to make do with me", Kyrie says and grins slightly, but still noticeably nervous.

"... And this place is no longer called _Opera House_ but _House of Fraternity_?" Dante says after a while, raising his arms to symbolize the room.

"Yes. The name reflects its new purpose much better. This is a place for all citizens of Fortuna, including the organizational members, to strengthen the community and to just have a good time together. This is where we hold banquets, flea markets or competitions", Kyrie explains.

"_Competitions?_ What kind of?" Dante repeats questioningly.

"It varies. We try to be creative and to always come up with something new. Last time there was a singing contest. I even won it ..." Kyrie says shyly, "Before that, there was a sword fighting competition, and before that, a race. Bigger events take place outside, but only if the weather is nice, of course."

Dante only nods since he has lost any desire for a small talk. Instead of continuing the conversation, he decides to move away from the group and take a closer look at the room; checking if there is another small detail that has been changed in the interior design after the building's reconstruction, as the meaning of the former opera house changed, too. In fact, he can detect another difference, and that is not even a minor one: The gigantic Sparda statue, on which Dante and Nero fought their first battle, is missing today.

"Why are you so nervous, Kyrie?" It is Trish asking.

"I'm not nervous ..."

"You're a bad liar ..."

Kyrie falls silent.

"Spit it out! Is it because of the event that happened earlier?"

"Yes, but that's not the main reason ..." Kyrie looks sadly to the ground.

"Kyrie ..."

"Nero's going to hate me for this ..." She says at first, "But maybe it's better if you know."

She takes a deep breath and looks up.

Dante's curiosity gets aroused, so that he turns back to the group.

"For about a year or so, Nero has such strange _blackouts_. They just come out of nowhere. At first, it was _only_ sudden feelings of faintness, but today he even becomes aggressive and transforms into his _devilish version_ uncontrollably. I must witness how his arm starts to shine and his eyes change from blue to red. How suddenly a blue aura appears around him. How he breathes heavily and squeezes his eyes together, trying to suppress the pain and that strange feeling inside of him. How he presses his hands against his ears because he wants the voice in his head to stop saying _those words_. And how he screams while his voice is accompanied by another voice. During this period, you can't address or touch him because otherwise he would freak out and smash his entire environment. When he _comes back to himself_, he sincerely regrets everything that just happened, and I do believe him. He simply doesn't know what possesses him to _act like that_ all the time. Then it doesn't take long for the next blackout to come. I'm so scared of him when he changes, and at the same time it hurts so much to see him suffering and losing control over himself. Particularly because I know I can't help him", Kyrie starts sobbing, "I want to have my old Nero back!"

Big tears are running down Kyrie's cheeks.

"Oh dear ... That's terrible ...", Trish says compassionately and takes Kyrie in her arms, "I'm so sorry ..."

When Kyrie has calmed down a bit and Trish stops hugging her, Dante wants to go more into the topic:

"Can you tell me more about that voice? How does it sound to you and to Nero? What does the voice tell him?"

"To hear him speaking sounds so ... _terrifying_ ... So _demonic_ ... But the voice in his head is human, as he once told me. It's a male one, but he can't match the voice to any person. It says very often: _'Power. I need more power.'_"


	3. Mission 3 - Child of Sorrow

**Mission 3**

_Child of Sorrow_

* * *

Dante squints his eyes and focuses on Kyrie.

_'Power. I need more power.' _He associates this wording with a specific someone whose force was never enough for himself, though it arose from the legendary and powerful Sparda. The desire of becoming a completed demon led him to Mundus to take his place as the ruler of hell. That action did not only cost him his pride by being doomed to serve Mundus as a puppet in the form of _Nelo Angelo_, but also his life. It was Dante's responsibility to bring about the downfall of Mundus' harbinger. Unknowing, he would lose his twin brother after his victory.

Vergil is dead. How come the particular sentence, which is a hint for Vergil, echoes in Nero's head? Can the voice really be his? It is impossible that Dante's twin brother has survived the event which happened in _Mallet Island_. Dante is able to testify his death, unfortunately.

Now it shall be Nero who succumbs to lust for power?

What the heck is the true meaning of the _Devil Bringer _...?

Dante is torn out of his intellectual world filled with questions as he realizes Kyrie starring at him with tearstained and wide opened eyes. He switches his attention to Trish.

For others, her facial expression, which she offers to Dante, may seem neutral but since he knows his companion far too well, he is able to see dismay in her eyes. Dante is aware of the fact that Trish is acquainted with the story of his brother and its sad ending so that she must sense the thoughts crossing the demon hunter's mind regarding that experienced situation.

"What?", Dante utters and looks at Trish and Kyrie alternately while simulating a confused face.

"Do you have any idea why this is happening recently? Nero thinks he is losing more and more his humanity to become a wholly demon someday. Can it be true?", Kyrie asks hesitantly and with a shaky voice as she wipes away her slightly smudged makeup.

"Possible, but I don't think it's happening because the blood flowing through his veins is demonic naturally. It _must_ have something to do with that arm, and it's running out of control by now. That arm is responsible for setting free those demonic abilities inside of him. He doesn't have those _feature_ all along since he wore a bandage on his right arm ... before the fight ..."

"He told me about the first fight between both of you where his arm changed suddenly", Kyrie nods. "And yes, it's correct that his arm doesn't look that way from the beginning. At some point, after several battles against demons, he wasn't able to move his arm anymore. It was also hurting and then turned into a weird color. The first thought of the order's physicians was that he might caught a malady from the demons because they didn't see any compression or fracture. So they just gave him an elixir to drink and immobilized his arm."

"So that a demon is responsible for Nero's arm, ha ...?", Dante says.

_Even if that is the case there would be still the question left to answer what it is about this particular sentence. Nero cannot had met Vergil before the event happened on Mallet Island, can he? _

"When did Nero first notice that something's wrong with his arm?"

"It was about four years ago."

Dante nods. He has his hands on the hips and seems to be pensive as he finally continues: "Oh man, the kid only causes trouble."

Trish sighs. "What did you say on the phone, Kyrie? _'We're fantastic'_ ...?"

"Everything _would be_ fantastic without this stupid arm ... Isn't there anything we can do to find it's true cause? I do accept the fact that he is becoming a demon, if that's the process meant to be, but I don't want him to lose control of his body completely. That's just not right!", Kyrie mentions and her voice starts getting more powerful.

"Okay, first of all: Do you have any more information? Did Nero tell you something in addition?", Dante asks.

"Please think carefully and tell us _everything_ you know", Trish adds.

"I don't know more ...", Kyrie says confused. "Nero not even wants to talk much about it. He escapes the topic every time. He just wants to enjoy the time he has left. The whole thing seems to be completed for him. But I'm not finish with this yet! I don't want to give up!"

"Do you know if anything special happened recently? Did Nero hurt anyone during his attacks so far? And what about those strange feeling you mentioned earlier?", Dante continues asking.

"Um ...", Kyrie reacts seemingly overwhelmed. "Except all the feelings of faintness and the attacks, I wouldn't know what else should've happened. Luckily, no one has come to any harm yet. It's all bad enough. The feeling ... He always feels such a deep darkness inside of him. Full of hate and anger. If I knew more, I ..."

"It's okay, Kyrie", Trish says while stroking her upper arm. "We'll have to involve Nero. There's no way around. As the main character of this all, he must be able to tell us more about it ..."

"Yeah, otherwise we ain't come closer to the truth", Dante replies.

"When will the wedding take place, anyway?"

Kyrie looks surprised at Trish. Also Dante's sight is puzzled and wanders towards her.

"How-"

"... I do know that?", Trish preempts Kyrie. "I've heard that silver rings are normally symbols for engagements. You wear one on your finger and Nero has his one around the neck." She grins cheekily.

"That's right ...", Kyrie smiles as well, but just lightly.

"What women pay attention to ...", Dante sights.

"... We don't know yet. We don't even know if it will take place generally ... It's not the best time for a marriage ..."

"Nah! Let Dante first have a conversation with Nero, solely between men, and then we'll take it from there, okay?"

"Hm?", The demon hunter utters in surprise.

"You see! He's convinced doing so", Trish grins mischievously while Dante sighs, accepting his fate reluctantly.

"Do you mind going back to the castle already?", Kyrie asks carefully. "I would like to be there before Nero. Maybe he's going to return a bit earlier than expected."

"No, not at all. Dante can prepare himself for the conversation with Nero better this way."

Dante puts on a fake smile. "Well then, off we go ..."

* * *

Throughout the way to the castle, Dante is accompanied by thoughts about Nero and Vergil. In particular, he cannot get this special sentence, mentioned by Kyrie, out of his head.

Is there any connection between both men? Can it be somebody else, perhaps a demon, who is responsible for Nero's _Devil Bringer_ by settling in his body or infecting him with an unknown substance? As reported by Kyrie, a specific scenario could have occurred in a battle four years ago.

So many theories and assumptions but no clear answers. Not yet. However, one thing is clear to Dante: He can trust his gut feeling all along and now it tells him that the answers to any questions will follow soon. Even if the resolution will not be a good one. At this time, Dante has no idea how he could influence the current situation. Sadly, all of the involved parties will have to go through this painful period of uncertainty. Dante did not want Kyrie to know his identifying.

Snow-covered, icy mountains and, corresponding to this, a chilly wind which blows Dante's thoughts away literally. This area, which is probably governed by the cold independently of the season, shows Dante that the destination is going to be reached soon.

"... So, you're an organizational member too?", He asks, trying to distract himself from the feeling of the cold.

"Basically, yes. Although I don't belong to a council particularly, I support the organization wherever I can. Also, Nero always wants me to take part in the meetings and to know my point of view. He hasn't made a decision without listening to my statements so far ", Kyrie replies while moving with her arms crossed in an effort to preserve as much of the body's warmth as possible.

"Aha ... And how's the organization structured? One council must be those Security Council ..."

"That's right. Then we have the Health Council, the Research Council and the Council for Economics, Education and Finance. The last one is even the greatest of them all."

"Okay ... And what is Nero doing all day? Bossing people around and making decisions?"

"Almost", Kyrie giggles. "He's the number one of hierarchy and the only one who is allowed to determine further proceedings but before that, he still has to coordinate with all the councils. Each member of it has special skills, talents and knowledge Nero can't offer after all. Only decisions regarding the Security Council, however, are excluded, so he don't need to coordinate these kind of topics with the other councils. But even in this case Nero always wants to have Raul at his side. He is the substitution of him and without Raul taking part on all the several meetings, Nero does practically nothing. But Nero also helps out whenever there's need. He loves his Fortuna and he doesn't consider being too good for any kind of work."

"Does that Raul or anyone else know about his attacks?", Dante keeps continue asking.

"Yes, Raul knows about it. The other ones don't. We don't want to give anyone cause for concern. At least I hope nobody else has noticed his attacks so far."

"What kind of person is he? How long do they know each other?" Now it is Trish asking.

"Raul and Nero are close friends. Well, rather like brothers. Raul is correct, very dedicated, mindful and calm. He may seem cold and unfriendly to strangers and because of his strong self-assurance, he leaves an imaginary impression to them in addition. But once you get to know him, you can see his good core. Nero became familiar with him as he was looking for fighters for Fortuna's safety. Raul showed his big talent as a swordsman back then. Nero was impressed by that. Then they spent more and more time together and at some point they were almost inseparable. When it came to develop a system for the organization and even later for the entire island, it was just obvious he would choose Raul to be his confidante. Nero respects him so much that he was commissioning a very special sword for him", Kyrie tells.

"Is this _special sword_ also equipped with fancy stuff like Nero's?", Dante asks.

"It shall contain a very complex and expensive technology just like all the swords of the organizational members, yes. But Raul's was the most expensive one. Even more expensive than Nero's Red Queen in total. It was also associated with high effort for its production. Still Nero was a hundred percent convinced that Raul has to get it. No matter what."

"_Red Queen_ ...", The demon hunter echoes in an amused tone. "It's all about having pimped up weapons but a true swordsman doesn't need any frills."

Trish and Kyrie look and grin at each other. Both of them noticed Dante's curios glances at the organizational member's swords moments ago.

The trio come closer to the bridge which leads to the castle. The layout of the building is still impressing.

"And that huge castle is all yours now?" The question comes from the blonde demon hunter again.

"Not quite. Raul also has a room of his own. He's just so obsessed from working that he spends most of his time in headquarters than at home. Even if he was at home all the time, we would still have way too much space."

Finally they reach the long bridge. Kyrie moderates her pace and squints her eyes, looking at the end of the bridge. Dante follows Kyrie's gaze as he recognizes two dark-dressed men in front of the castle gate, which are probably further organization's fighters, and also the back of another person. The proportions and the long, dark hair of this person signalize that it must be a woman. The group crosses the bridge and the people who stand in front of the castle gate become clearer for their eyes.

"Hey, Kyrie!", One of the two men greets. As expected, both belong to the organization.

"Hey ...", She replies shortly.

"Good you're here. This lady has been waiting for Nero for ages now. Do you have a guess when he'll arrive here or is he prevented? We saw the flare in the sky. Did something bad happened?"

"There was a little indecent. I didn't even notice myself but everything's fine again", Kyrie explains while looking a bit confused. "Um, who is that and why is she waiting for Nero?"

"I better introduce _myself_", The unknown woman interrupts, thus revealing her charming voice, as she approaches Kyrie with a friendly face and stretches out her left hand. "Hera. Nice to meet you, Kyrie. I have an appointment with Nero."

Dante has noticed the strange, young woman from the very first moment as she got clearer for his view. It is impossible for any attractive women to escape the demon hunter's scanning eyes.

She has a very light and soft skin as well as dark brown, long and wavy hair which lateral parts are braided backwards. The colors of her clothes are, all in all, muted. Her top is dark purple, her pants dark gray and her boots are dark brown. On top of that, she seems to be able to protect herself since she wears a rifle on the back in which leather strap of the rifle's holder is stored a dagger.

This appearance fits perfectly to her cool and hard radiance which deterrents Dante in no way. Quite the contrary - it even causes him to look more closely at her athletic body and her appearance.

Starting with a thick strap on the left shoulder, the airy top covers half of her torso, allowing a glimpse of her toned abdomen, and then ending on her right hip. Her bust is highlighted by a dark brown belt which is buckled underneath. The tight, smooth material of her low-rise pants is fitted with five cuts in the thighs' area and with three ones at her shin. She also wears a black trouser belt whose clasp has an oval shape and is decorated with weaves. Her upper arms are adorned with spiral gold bangles and her right hand is encased in a black mitt which covers half of her forearm and on where is also added a buckle.

Dante gets disturbed by eying her up when Kyrie raises her arm to reciprocate Hera's welcome and therefore crossing Dante's field of view.

"Nice to meet you too ...", She says with a confused face.

"That's Nero's girlfriend. Maybe she can help you", The fighter adds since his colleague only watches the situation silently.

"Oh, how lovely! Then I'm even _more_ happy to meet you", The lady says and her grin widens while she keeps continuing the handshake.

Kyrie reacts with a fake smile and frees her hand from Hera's firm grip.

"And who are _you_ ...?", The brown-haired woman asks during a glance at Dante, who stands behind Kyrie on the right, and then switching to Trish, who is positioned on the left side of the background.

"I never thought I'll have to introduce myself one day", The _Son of Sparda_ says just before Trish can utter a sound.

He makes a big step forward and stretches his left hand to Hera, guessing her to be a left-hander since he noticed the handshaking with Kyrie. "Dante."

Now it is Hera who has a confused expression. "Dante ... The Son of ..."

"Exactly", The demon hunter replies with a grin.

"... I always imagined your look quite different ..."

Carefully she raises her hand, what make the gold rings which decorate her thumb and middle finger get visible, and finally accept the handshaking while looking directly in his ice-blue eyes.

"How?"

He looks in those of Hera. Blue-gray and almond-shaped. Absolutely captivating. Due to her dark made-up eyes, they get more intensity.

"Just different ..." Hera's mouth forms a gentle smile and her facial features relax.

"You're positively surprised for sure", Dante says in a confident sound and moves his eyes down to her soft nose which is a nice counterpart to her pretty, distinctive face. Then switching his attention to her full and curved lips, painted in a matte blackberry color.

Dante watches as Hera's mouth widens even more in response to his statement.

It is interesting how her cool aura, getting clarified by her distinctive face as an overall picture, starts to fade because of her friendly and open manner she shows so far, plus her warm smile.

"Have you both finished sniffing?", Trish throws in.

Wistfully, Dante forces himself to take his eyes off her and to let go her hand since he does not want to have to deal with another saying of his colleague.

"That's Trish, by the way", He says unimpressed, pointing his right thumb at her. "She assists with my business."

"... _'and saves my butt frequently'_, was just missing", Trish remarks cheeky.

"_Please excuse me_. How could I forget about that?"

Hera seems to be amused by Dante's and Trish's teasing.

"Hi, Trish. I'm glad to meet you as well", Hera finally says while looking at her and nodding slowly for one time.

As a kind of greeting from afar, Trish raises her right hand to let the fingers move back and forth rapidly.

"May I ask you why you have an appointment with Nero?", Kyrie applies herself and focuses Hera. "He won't arrive here so soon ..."

"Didn't Nero tell you anything about it?", The fighter intervenes once more.

"What is it he should've told me about anyway?", Kyrie asks, switching her glance at the fighter while seemingly being taken from tension and uncertainty.

The organizational member breathes in deeply, preparing for an answer, but this time it is Hera leading the conversation:

"It's better when _I_ explain the situation." The sound of her voice is calm but still obvious.

"Yeah, I'm sorry ...", The fighter says insightfully and uses his hand to signalize Hera that she is allowed to continue her explanation.

She thanks him while nodding silently and turns to Nero's girlfriend who already gave back her full attention to Hera.

"The reason why I'm here is because I have to talk with Nero about something very important. He asked me to wait here for him yesterday. This conversation means a lot to me. I also assumed that Nero would keep his word and shows up here."

Kyrie rubs her fingers nervously. "I'm afraid but it looks like the conversation would fall into water, at least today ..."

Hera sighs and looks sideways, being unsatisfied.

"I don't even know myself when Nero will come back. As mentioned earlier, it's because of the incident that happened and which no one ever could have expected. That's why he has to take charge of certain things which aren't unimportant too."

Another sigh comes over Hera. "And nobody else was aware of that incident and my visit to give me notice?"

"I would've been very happy if someone had told me about _this_ too", Kyrie responses quickly and points, with her hands crossed, in Hera's direction.

"Nero told us that he'll let you know about that", The fighter rises to speak for his uncommunicative colleague and himself.

"I'm sure he wanted to but then forgot it as busy as he is ..."

"Being a leader means getting a lot of work done", Hera says, seeming more relaxed now which her face evidences.

"Yeah, that's true ..." Even Kyrie's tense has eased and her body as well as her face start to ease off. "Me being totally uninformed, would you please tell me how come you know him?"

"I don't really know him. I addressed him after his speech which he held in the capital city yesterday, just because I need to talk to him."

"What is it about? Maybe I can help you."

"I want to tell him _personally_."

"No chance to get more information, Kyrie. We've also tried." It is the communicative fighter speaking again. "She keeps her mouth closed. Still, Nero agreed this encounter and informed us about it."

Kyrie shakes her head in disbelief.

"By the way, the information exchange work's quite well between you guys", Hera quips whereupon Kyrie's face gets serious again.

"As soon as he comes back, I'll tell him that you were waiting and that he shall contact you. Does he have your contact details?" Also her voice shows her indignation. Kyrie's nervousness seems to be blown away.

This reaction causes Hera to smirk cheeky and to answer, "Not yet. I'm not from here. I currently stay at the hotel _Fortuna Inn_. Now you're already familiar with my name and as a native of this island, the hotel's address must be known to you."

Kyrie nods. "Well then, I'll tell him. Have a nice day."

Hera's smirk persists. "Thanks, same to you ... To _all of you_", She says while looking at anybody but spending most of her attention to Dante who offers her a coquettish smile as she walks through the group and with that leaving them behind.

"What an appearance ...", Dante says and watches Hera walk away.

Trish rolls her eyes. Kyrie does not seem to have heard the sentence spoken by Dante or just not to comment on it since she looks at the ground thoughtfully.

"Kyrie?", Trish says, noticing Kyrie's introspective behavior.

Promptly she raises her head and looks at Trish. "Yes?! Um ... let's go inside."

She points at the castle gate which the guards open for the group. Before Kyrie enters the castle, she turns to the chatty man who stands on the left side, "Please don't tell Nero anything about this. I want to talk to him all by myself."

The man nods and also the other fighter, who is positioned next to him, agrees wordlessly. Then Kyrie steps through the gate and enters the castle.

"Does the kid already have fans from outside?", Dante whispers to Trish.

Trish only responds with a slow shrug to express her unknowingness and passes the gate as well. Dante follows as the massive iron gate slams behind him, hence generating a loud sound through the huge and cool hall.

Columns reaching to the gigantic ceiling, the ancient chandelier that barely can light up the vast hall and the many benches placed one behind the other on a red carpet on each sides; all these are well-known impressions for the demon hunter how he descried the festival hall two years ago.

Looking straight forward at the stone wall and the upper storey, he can notice that it is undamaged and unadorned. Once, there hung a large portrait of the former order's leader which even got partly destroyed during the discovery of the secret passage which lead to the underground laboratory. However, the reason why this portrayal cannot be admired today has certainly nothing to do with its damage.

"We've burned any pictures of him", Kyrie says as if she could read his mind. She must just have noticed Dante's view at the empty wall.

"That was a big fire for sure, ha?", Dante replies.

"Oh, yes", Kyrie says with a brief amusement. "Seeing the pictures burning down was also a very liberating feeling."

"I totally understand." Dante nods slightly and crosses his arms in front of his chest. "What happened with the lab?"

Kyrie turns to the group. "Nothing. We just bricked up the entrance. We didn't want to have anything to do with it."

"A good decision", Dante says while yawning.

"It's time to go to sleep for the little boy ...", Trish jokes.

"Compared to you I've been up very early today, right?"

"I didn't arrive _that_ late in the office!"

"Still I was much more diligent than you in the morning", Dante replies shortly, rises his head a bit more towards the ceiling and fakes a conceited expression.

"If you like you can lie down on one of the sofas in our bedroom until Nero comes home", Kyrie offers.

"That sounds fabulous!"

Trish comes closer to Nero's girlfriend and puts her left arm around Kyrie's shoulder. "We'll have a nice afternoon then while the Mister will be resting."

"Yah", Kyrie says shortly and nods as she turns her head to Trish. With saying the words "When I tell you that we've redesigned Sanctus' old bedchamber into ours, will you find it?" she switches her attention to Dante.

"Of course I'll find it!", Dante says and frees his arms out of the folded position and moves towards the dark red door in the right wing of the hall. "I have a memory like an elephant, you know?"

His loud words, spoken from the distance, echo through the whole room.

"That's the wrong direction!", Kyrie exclaims to Dante.

Dante stops. "I know ...", He says after a while and turns to the group. "I just liked the color of the door better."

Walking past the giggling women, he enters the left side of the hall. The demon hunter leans against the large, dark green iron door to open it and let the gate slam behind him.

Dante follows the only hallway that extends on the right and discovers a painting of Kyrie along the path. He has a short stop to look at it.

She smiles warmly at him in her white and festive dress. Her face gives the impression of lightheartedness and jollity. She sits on a stair of the ascent which leads to the former opera house, the today's _House of Fraternity_.

Finally, he desists from looking at the portrait and continues walking. After a short while, another corridor, which is narrower and shorter than the one before, opens up upon his left side with a remarkable dark brown iron door at the end. This time, Dante feels certain that this passage will bring him closer to his destination so that he steps through the entrance.

The elongated room, in which Dante is standing now, has a darker and a more uncomfortable atmosphere than the previous rooms. Nevertheless, this impression does not concern him much. He only takes a few steps while looking around composedly. On both sides of the room, a few flat steps lead to a platform on which pillars blend into the stone walls that build up behind. Two torch columns make him feel invited to pass the entrance on which they are placed closely. However, he keeps staying in the current room to take a look above him since a question, which came to his mind after entering for the first time two years ago, just raised up in his head again. He can see the stone bridge's underside instead of countless pointed iron bars that hung from the ceiling back then. Bringing his head down, he recognizes the dryness of the ground he walks on. There is no more water that floods the ground.

This room seems to be no more a place for tortuousness. Which persons or beings felt pain here and why? Was it for research purposes or just for fun? This secret has been taken into death from the corrupt order members.

Dante steps through the gate that leads him to the illuminated vestibule and climbs the circular staircase on the left. Afterwards, he passes the stone bridge he has just seen from below and opens the noticeable dark and with golden ornaments designed door to finally enter the room he was seeking for.

He walks around and surveys the new bedroom of Kyrie and Nero curiously. It just needs a few moments for the demon hunter to come to the conclusion that this furnishing is much more stylish, comfortable and cozier than the one of the former order's leader.

The walls are decorated with tapestries in a warm orange shade and golden ornaments that look like plants as well as with light gray adornments made of smooth stone. These stone elements are centered as a thick beam on all the four walls. At some positions, this beam runs down to the ground and at the same time up, drawing large arches. Furthermore, the walls are decorated by many paintings and ancient wall lamps. On the windows, located to the opposite of Dante, hang beige and pompous curtains that reach to the ground. A flat pedestal in the shape of an octagon covered with a hazel carpet can be seen on the left side of the room. Four stone stairs on this platform make their way up to a majestic, golden canopy bed with white curtains and linens. Side tables with lamps on it stand next to the piece of furniture and a crown chandelier is mounted above. Two pillars mark the sleeping area and make it even more inviting.

Behind the bed on the left side, Dante views another painting of Kyrie. This time, Nero is depicted also. This painting shows their familiarity and happiness very well. The young head of the organization is positioned in the background and wraps his arms around the waist of his girlfriend who stands in front of him. On this picture, Kyrie wears a golden dress.

Dante walks across the light gray stone floor as he approaches two sofas placed to his right. Thereby he feels the softness of the large, light brown carpet, which is also decorated with curved dark brown diamond patterns, underneath his soles. He strokes one of the royal sofas cushioned with white and light gray seat pads while passing. At the same time, he looks through the windows fogged by the cold from outside.

"Having a little warming fire might be a nice idea", Dante says to himself and heads over to the fireplace that has just caught his eyes.

He grabs the matchbox on the fireplace and takes one matchstick out for striking. Letting the little flame have contact with the piece of woods in the fireplace make them burn after a short while. The flame continues spreading to ultimately create a beautiful spitting ingle.

After a short warming in front of the fire, he stands up and removes from the fireplace. It only needs a few steps for Dante to arrive at the white, shining piano. Arbitrarily, he presses down the various instrument's keys to let sound inharmonious tones. Dante looks through the window pane again and this time another painting of a known person attracts his attention. He comes closer to the right corner of the room, in which is placed a houseplant, to have a better look at the expressive portrayal of Kyrie's dead brother Credo.

Two years ago, he got killed in the fight against Sanctus while he was trying to free Nero out of the clutches of the _Savior_. Initially, he was serving the then order's leader with all his intentions and he was even obstructing Nero's way to protect the former master from the young man but as Credo learned of Sanctus' true purposes in which even Kyrie had been exploiting, he realized his true enemy. It was Dante together with Trish who had the last conversation with him before his death. He can still remember the information he was told by Credo as well as his last request of rescuing Kyrie.

Getting tired more and more, the demon hunter finally moves towards the sofas, slips through the gap that is leaving by seat and coffee table to afterwards sit down on one of the two couches.

For the last time, Dante let his gaze wander through the room. Especially the wardrobe made of dark wood on the opposite wall catches his sight a few times due to its big size. During his view he discovers one more painting that is left for the demon hunter to look at.

From afar he can recognize that the painting is a family portrait because he can see a woman and a man, presumably mother and father, as well as two children. All persons look very happy. Especially the young red-haired girl who has found her place on the lap of the woman, sitting on a wooden chair, radiates pure joy with her big grin and also looks very cute in her little dress. To the right of the ladies stands a dark-haired teenager who is pulled closer by the right arm of an elder man who is positioned next to him.

Finally, Dante has to surrender to fatigue and lies down on the couch. He crosses his feet, interlaces his fingers, brings his hands up to the back of his head to let it then rest in his hands. He looks at the second luxurious chandelier directly above him as he finally closes his eyes. An audible exhalation let his body relax even more.

An abrupt shaking at his shoulders turns Dante out of his sleep.

"Wake up, slowpoke!"

Gradually reentering the real world, Dante blinks with his eyes and Trish's figure gets more and more recognizable to him.

"You've rested enough. Your person matters now."

"Is Nero back already?", The demon hunter says dreamingly and raises his upper body whilst using his elbows.

"No, he's not", Trish replies and sits down on the coffee table.

"I can rest a little more then."

Dante just wants to lie down his upper body on the couch again as Trish stands up, brings her herself behind him and straightens his back while speaking, "No way! Nero has made a promise to Kyrie which says he'll be at home before it gets too dark outside, at least as long as he has those attacks."

Trish moves away from Dante, making herself stand upright and crosses her arms. "It's just before _midnight_ and he's still not here yet."

"But he said he might be late ..."

"Dante ...", Trish says with a warning voice.

"Alright, I'll go find him ...", He replies, puts his feet on the floor and stands up from the sofa. Barely straightened himself, Dante's stomach starts to rumble. "After bringing Nero back home, It's just appertain that I get presented with a _nighthawk-snack_."

"We'll take care of this later. Just go and find him first."

"Okay, okay ... I'm on my way ...", Dante sighs and walks around the sofa. "Our stay appears to be the complete opposite from our expectations, huh?"

"You can say that again. This certainly ain't a classic visit ..."

Dante salutes before pushing down the door handle to leave the room.

The sudden coldness makes Dante's muscles wince and himself feeling wide awake just by now. It takes a while for his body to get used to the bone-chilling cold which has got even more intense due to the befallen night. Gradually, the tremble from the cold abates.

Since Nero mentioned to go back to the headquarters, Dante decides to head to this place. He hurriedly passes the large military cemetery with its many graves. Will the warrior maid who has fallen in the battle against the many demons rest here also?

He reaches a passage that leads him to the immense courtyard on which he defeated _Bael_, the frog-like demon, two years ago. Recalling the memory of this fight, the distinctive and unpleasant demon's smell rises to Dante's nose insomuch as if the demon would be nearby.

He enters the next gate that leads him back to the castle. There he makes his way through the long corridors, the many rooms and doors until he finally reaches the upper floor that brings him closer to the exit. Following one of the both paths that lead out of the castle and to the waterfalls by passing the upper area of the courtyard. Descending the stairs, he finally finds himself on the bridge which paves the way to the forest, formerly ruled by the demon _Echidna_, as he enters it.

The deeper he makes his way into the woodland, the darker it gets and the more the bitter cold does subside since he has left the icy area behind. Only a typical night's freshness is left to feel. Some light is being emitted by the full moon above Dante.

After a few meters of walking, Dante can hear subtle voices from afar which he seems to get closer from time to time. He slows down his pace although it is clear to him that it must me two men who are speaking and that it cannot be noises from demons. Gradually, other sounds, like walking on grass and crushing small branches with heavy footwear, can be heard as well.

"You guys are everywhere, aren't you?", Dante says as he detects those two men of the organization who were probably marching their route.

"Wow!", One fighter startles and turns to Dante. "Are you crazy scaring us?"

He carries a rifle whose light he has activated in the meanwhile and let it shine directly at Dante. The demon hunter holds his arm in front of his face for a better protection.

"Is that really necessary?", Dante complains.

"That's what I've asked myself when you snuck up to us from behind."

He extinguishes the light and lowers his rifle. The spikes of his melee weapon protrude slightly above his head. This weapon could be a trident.

The other organizational member finally begins to speak in a rough tone, "What are you doing out here at this time of night? Are you night walking?"

This man does not hold a weapon in his hands. He wears his melee weapon as well as his shotgun on his body.

"Even though. That wouldn't be fun with you nags who lurk around on every corner. I must go to the headquarters. I'm looking for Nero. He's still there, right?"

"The HQ may only be entered by internal. As far as I know, you don't belong to us. Or did I miss something und you've switched jobs because of the bad order situation?"

After the statement of his partner, the fighter, armed with a rifle, emits a dirty laugh.

"Don't worry about my order situation. I'm not starving. You better take care of your ears 'cuz I was asking a question."

The man sighs before answering, "He's probably still at the HQ. My colleagues won't let you in, though. Don't waste your time going there."

"At least you've passed the hearing test", Dante says and walks past the organizational members as he stops after a short time to turn to them again. "Oh and believe me. Somebody like me who has saved the whole Fortuna region from biting the dust may certainly enter the HQ, even as a non-member."

He starts moving again, leaving two speechless men behind.

"Always keep your ears clean!", The demon hunter calls to the fighters additionally.

Moments after passing meter high trees, Dante can see a small, white building shining in the moonlight. A sign that he will soon have mastered the maze successfully. The nature begins to open as a large, long bridge, leading to the organization's gathering point, gets visible for Dante. This transition is also being guarded by two members. Without any complication they let Dante pass the bridge and even greet him.

Now that no branches bother Dante's field of view and where he can see the headquarters clearly, he realizes that its structure is identical to the one which collapsed two years ago. Apparently, the building was rebuilt true to the original.

He switches his attention to the clear night sky. In addition to the full moon, the stars twinkle and only a light breeze goes across the bridge.

Dante turns his gaze back to the headquarters. Since he has come closer, he can now see the back of a blond-haired man who sits in a squatting position in front of the building. Just in the moment when Dante is guessing what the man is doing there, he can see another light-haired man who rests on the floor and leans against the headquarters' stone wall. The situation seems to be suspicious to Dante so that he increases his pace. Being close enough to the scene, he is able to identify the second man who rests on the ground: It is Nero.

"Are you still not realizing that it isn't all about you? In particular, it's about the welfare of Fortuna, Kyrie included. As the head of Golden Fortuna it's your _duty_ to take care of people's safety. But you're blinded by pride, stubbornness and ignorance, so you can't see the actual danger. That just happened event was even noticed by some of our people which will have the result of distrusting, spreading in our own ranks. Your behavior is no longer sustainable", Dante hears the blond fighter who bends down to Nero speak in a stern tone as he finally reaches them.

The blond fighter wants to continue with his words but he pauses when noticing Dante's presence.

"Shit ... not _you_ ...", Nero says in an exhausted voice while he breathes heavily and stares at Dante.

"You've looked better once before ...", The devil hunter replies while looking down to Nero.

The weakening young man grins and tries to make a blithe expression.

"Having the opportunity ... May I introduce my nanny, Raul, to you?"

It can be read clearly from Raul's grave face that he considers Nero's carefree reaction to be inappropriate to the given situation. In spite of this, the blond man seems to be composed and gets up. He is a head taller than Dante.

"I don't have to tell you who he is, Raul, do I?", Nero gasps.

"No, you don't." Raul stretches one hand to the devil hunter. "Dante, the _Son of Sparda_. Highly pleased to meet you personally."

As friendly as his sentence may be couched; there are no fitting emotions readable in Raul's mien. Also the pitch of his voice, which has a usual deepness for a man and does not show any other peculiarity or special characteristic, sounds neutral. Surprising for Dante, since he did expect a deeper voice considering Raul's hard aura.

"Hi", Dante replies unimpressively and raises his hand only for a quick greeting but does not accept the formal handshake.

Seemingly, Raul's facial expression harden which underscores his distinctive facial features, caused above all by his marked cheekbones as well as his broad jaw and chin. His edged nose with a defined nasal bridge and wide nostrils also makes a big contribution to this. On the other hand, his broad mouth with its narrow lips and the pointed ears, which first get visible due to Raul's combed back hair, are just barely noticeable. The green-brown eyes are narrow and slightly further apart from each other. Furthermore, they look somewhat venomous. This effect occurs not only because of the particular color of the iris but rather because of his richly tanned skin that makes the eyes shine more intensely. With its straight, dense and deep-set eyebrows, his eye contour as well as the hardness of his face gets completed.

As an organizational member, he certainly is dressed in its corresponding shades. His muscle armor is black and extends over his shoulders which are also protected by shoulder plates. Below the plating he wears a thin, midnight blue sweater that makes his muscular arms show to his advantage. His cargo pants have the same color. His boots are, classically, black. Dante cannot detect any weapons on his body although Kyrie mentioned a special sword only made for him.

"Did I miss something?", Dante switches his gaze between Raul and Nero.

Both remain in silence. Apart from Nero's wheezing, which subsides more and more, is no other sound hearable. His demon arm emits only a subtle light. Finally, Nero shows a watchful eye for Raul who looks back after noticing that he is being watched.

"It's time for Nero to elucidate. I retreat myself. There is a lot of work waiting for me to get done", Raul says.

He nods slowly which shall constitute a farewell to Dante and approaches the castle gate to, however, come to a stop soon. Looking sideways to Nero he says, "No later than the day after tomorrow, even before the meeting, I want you to tell me your decision, Nero. Otherwise, I'm forced to act."

He starts moving again to step through the castle gate, so leaving Dante und Nero alone.

"What a likeable person ...", Dante says ironically and watches the gate closing.

Since there comes no reaction from Nero, Dante wanders his gaze down to him. He seems to be deeply affected.

"So, my friend. I'm waiting for an explanation. What the hell's going on here?"

With this sentence, Dante is able to catch Nero's attention immediately.

"You better tell me what you're supposed to do here first. Did Kyrie send you?", Nero asks and avoids Dante's request therewith. His face looks empty now.

"Well, she's concerned but I do understand since it's late in the night ...", Dante replies, deliberated imprecise.

"Because of the sudden demon attack, I had to do certain things. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get home earlier. But I did forewarn you ...", Nero explains.

"Oh, and that's why you're hanging around here? I didn't know the floor is _that_ comfortable."

Nero is still and Dante sighs because of this.

"Okay, kid. Time to put all the cards on the table. I know that you _freak out_ now and then."

"_Freak out_", The head of the organization returns whilst sneering at Dante. "So Kyrie has told you everything ..."

"Yap, but the little preaching of your representation was pretty suspicious too. Apart from the fact that you ain't looking quite fit."

"She already told you about Raul as well. Nice."

Dante does not get himself being impressed by Nero's blocking reaction.

"Let's go back to the castle. That's why you're here, right? Escorting me back home ..."

Nero puts his left human hand on his knee from the same side and leans his demon arm against the stone wall in an attempt to sit up. At first it seems like he would succeed but in that exact moment when he wants to balance his body weight on his shaky, weak legs, he collapses. Dante reacts just in time and backs Nero.

"I can do it myself!", Nero yells and protests against Dante's help.

"Good, show me then ...", Dante replies and lets up on Nero.

Immediately, Nero sinks to the ground and can barely rest on his hands to not get his face hurt at the hard and cold stone floor.

"Damn it ...", Nero scolds quietly to himself while gasping.

"Doesn't work the way how wanted, huh?", Dante teases but without any wicked intent.

He gives a short moment to the young man to gather his strength. Nero's eyes are slightly closed. His breathing calms down but his hands, on which he is resting, are still shaking. Just like his lips.

"No ... Nothing works the way I want anyway ... It's getting worse ... I'm losing more and more control over my own body ...", Nero finally says and his eyes are now open completely.

Dante's intention of getting through to Nero seems to be working.

"Apparently, your arm has a life of its own and now it just awakens."

"Yeah, that's how it feels like ..."

Nero shifts his weight back to his buttocks and drags himself backwards to the stone wall so that he can lean against it. He pulls his right leg closer to him and thus creates a support for his demonic arm which color temperature is still unusual cold; suitable to Nero's low energy.

"At first I was able to control these attacks and push them back. It was always pretty exhausting but still it worked. Now I don't even have a chance. My body does what it wants. This thing takes possession of me and I just must endure it. I used to like this arm. I thought I can protect Kyrie better this way but today I'd like to chop it off to bring those madness to an end ..."

"The one-armed Nero ... Well, that would be very impractical in everyday life ..."

"That's already the case."

"Right, but the question is if those method gonna be the solution. In the end, it has no effect and everything's all for nothing. What a _great pity_! If there's really a demon inside of you, then the arm's just a symptom and not the origin itself", Dante says. "How did that go when you first noticed the arm's changing? It shall have happened after a demon fight for about four years ago, right?"

"Yeah ... Some members of the order were suspecting this because my hand turned into a blue-gray color and that was far too extraordinary for a normal injury. But _even I_ haven't got a clue when I should've had injure myself. I wouldn't know a demon touched me just for a second. Even then, demons have been always a piece of cake to me. But I also have no idea how else it should've happened because there ain't happened nothing before that. I didn't expect something like this to come out ...", Nero says and raises his _Devil Bringer_ briefly for a better clarification.

"So you don't have any kinda guess? Also nothing being suspicious to you? Are you really sure? Just leave the demons out for a moment. Can you imagine the Order to have something to do with it? They were known for playing games and also for making devilish experiments after all. Or did you have a special encounter with someone? All of that don't must have took place before the event directly. It can be longer ago."

"What do you mean by saying _special encounter_?"

"Well, don't know. Someone who seemed strange to you. Maybe a demon, disguised like a human. Or another half-demon. Someone like me for example. We must consider any possible options ..."

"... And this _somebody_ did hawk me demonic drugs, or what?", Nero says, this time with the use of humor.

"That's a good point!", Dante says and participates in Nero's humorous remark.

"I have no fucking idea. Really, I didn't get anything. After all, it can be anything and nothing. Regarding the Order, I do believe they were able and willing enough to practice any evil intention you can ever imagine. Even dosing me with nasty stuff secretly. But now it doesn't matter anyway. It won't help to think about the past. It is what it is and lately, I don't have the best outlooks for future."

"So, what's the plan? Just keep it going?"

"I don't have a plan. I don't know _anything_ at the moment. In my head, it's all so confusing. Honestly I ... I even thought about finishing off myself ..."

"Wait a minute. What does that mean?!"

"Guess what? _That's it_. _Game over_."

Nero's statement makes Dante stall for a moment. The demon hunter cannot remember when someone ever had left him speechless.

"But you've discarded those thoughts for sure, right? 'Cuz otherwise you gonna miss the chance for a happy ending."

"_Happy ending_? It's hard for me to imagine currently. I didn't discard it, just kicked it down the road so far. I thought this _something_ inside of me would die this way too ..."

"Well, I'm not a big fan of this idea. Plus, what if the demon, or whatever it is being inside of you, seeks for his next victim after your death", Dante says. "Oh ... I hope that's not infectious. Just stay away from me!"

He takes a big step back for fun.

Nero grins slightly which, however, removes again.

"What would you do if you were me? I'm stumped. At first I did want to keep it going until it got worse and worse. Now it's just not possible anymore to just move on. Raul is right. I'm a massive danger for my whole environment. Everything I did for Fortuna ... And maybe it's even me destroying that island. When I then imagine I could hurt Kyrie someday ... I couldn't live with that."

"... What I would do?", Dante repeats and reflects for a moment before answering, "I think I would travel to a paradisiacal island. Enjoying the sun as long as I can."

Effectively, Nero must smile after Dante's statement. "Yeah, that's exactly your style. Lying on the beach with a drink in hand underneath a palm tree, beautiful women ..."

"Doesn't that sound beautiful?", Dante replies dreamily.

"Yeah."

A short silent moment appears which Dante interrupts finally:

"What did this guy mean before he went back to headquarters? Sounded like a little threat. _'No later than the day after tomorrow, I want to know your decision. Otherwise, I'm forced to act'_ or so."

He parrots Raul and tries to look as stiff and serious as he can to perform a perfect copy of him.

"He sees no other solution than to lock me up and to let myself get examined by doctors and researchers. He hopes to find out more about the demon arm this way. I have the choice to surrender myself to this or to resist but Raul will force the examination if I would choose the second option. In the end, I ain't have no other suggestion in return."

"That's what I call freedom of choice."

"But he's right. How else should he gonna act? When the boss is knocked out, the proxy has to make sure that everything works and he has to act in the people's interest."

"Hm", Dante says at first. "I'm just wondering what kind of results he's expecting. I'm a bit skeptical in terms of researching demonic forces ... That's going to backfire."

"Don't ask me. I ain't have good memories regarding this ..."

"Anyways, do we wanna take roots here or shall we go back?"

"Yeah, it's time to go back to the castle. I have just enough mind's presence to make this decision."

"Also the physical strength for it?"

"I can do it somehow."

Nero just wants to try standing up when suddenly a scream resounds which a human were not ever able to emit.

"Don't tell me we're getting visited from a demon right now?", Nero says.

"Oh, I guess so. Would be just matching this inappropriate situation ...", Dante replies.

The noise sounds once more and this time it is hearable like a whining. The creature seems to come closer since Dante can feel its presence. A renewed and even louder sound confirms the rightness of Dante's feeling.

Nero fails while he tries to get up on his feet. He slides his back down the stone wall to lower himself on the floor.

"Alright ... Do you think you can take it without me?"

"Pah! As if I ever would need your help. Besides, fighting is much more fun single-handed.

Dante turns away from Nero and enters the bridge. He bends over its railing on the right side. What he sees is a part of a skull which is smashed in some parts and probably belongs to the noisemaker hiding underneath the bridge.

"There's no reason for being shy!", Dante utters, sending his voice downwards.

Finally, the creature reveals itself by nimbly moving up his body the bridge railing to then make a jump very close to Dante's face. It lands in front of Nero.

Abruptly, the devil hunter reacts and uses his superhuman strength to slide across the ground, this way coming closer to the demon even faster and performs a diagonal bottom-up blow with his broadsword. However, the demon has noticed Dante approaching on him so that it can avoid his attack with another leap which brings him far behind Dante. Wide-eyed, Dante gets viewed by the young man. The point of his sword is just about one meter away from Nero's head.

"Don't worry. You're not listed on my bill", Dante says shortly, pulls his sword back and turns to the monstrosity which he can now look at in his entirety.

A black, tattered and far too big cowl covers the demon. From this clothing, his bony, grayish legs and feet peeks out as well as its skinny hands in which he holds a gigantic ax. Its facial expressions implies lethargy and boredom. Corresponding to this, the demon shows a stooping body posture.

With a loud moan, the creature opens the battle and throws his ax with all its force in Dante's direction. The shots of the demon hunter's twin pistols stop the flying ax immediately. Even before the heavy weapon can fall to the ground to after that make a clinking sound due to the contact with the hard stone floor, the demon let himself down on his hands and rushes like a monkey on all fours to his enemy. Quickly, Dante switches his weapons and hits the demon powerfully when it is close enough to him. The demon has to take this damage but it can safe itself from another one since he jumps aside. The figure remains in motion and throws its body forward. Coming to the ground, it pushes itself upward again, landing shortly on the walls of the headquarters and then let its body fall down to Nero.

Acting from necessity, he can manage to throw himself out of the demon's range. Dante intervenes with a hail of bullets to keep the demon in check. He then stops the attack, switches to _Rebellion_ and dashes, with its point ahead, towards the demon; hence nailing him on the wall.

"Hey! The facade is new!"

"Sorry? Not able to stand on your own feet but you have enough power for nagging, or what?"

He pulls out his sword from the demon's body and harrows it with the same weapon afterwards. In that moment in which Dante jumps up in an attempt to slam his sword down on the demon, the creature can escape by a side roll. With that, the demon gets in Nero's close proximity again. Now it wants to choke him but the young man can avoid getting touched by its bony hands with the use of his _Devil Bringer_, so ramming the monstrosity into the stony ground. The result of Nero's action is a shallow notch which would probably be a much deeper hole if he had the total amount of his energy. Nevertheless, the demon is captured inside of it.

"One damage more or less at the headquarters doesn't matter anymore ...", Nero says to himself.

The creature slips underneath Nero deftly and rushes, again choosing the monkey style as its way of locomotion, to its weapon which still lies on the bridge's ground. Dante tries preventing the retrieval of its ax by firing countless bullets. The demon, however, is able to evade all of the shots. Taking the weapon back, the demon prepares for its next attack. It jumps sideways onto the bridge railing to bounce off and to waft towards Nero. Slowed down by the ax, Dante has just as much time to jump up, pushing his body through the air towards the demon and to press the surface of his blade against the creature to let it fall back. Since it is time for the demon hunter to finish the fight, because the confrontation gets boring and unspectacular due to the demon's constant focus on Nero, he remains with his broad sword as the using weapon. It will be faster to kill the creature therewith.

As the demon approaches Dante, he steadies his footing and puts his sword behind him to concentrate any devilish power into his weapon. Soon, it starts to flash red.

"I've got something for you ...", Dante says to provoke the demon and flips the weapon forward, thus hitting the demon which has just arrived at him.

The red energy emanating from the sword flows through the demon and causes an electric shock before it gets thrown back several meters. Because of the pain the demon was suffering, it has lost his weapon in front of Dante's feet. The demon hunter puts _Rebellion_ back and picks up the considerable demon's melee weapon. Due to its heaviness, he needs both hands for picking it up. Dante's enemy must be stronger than it looks like.

The demon hunter brings the weapon behind his head and uses momentum to finally let it go. The weapon speeds towards the demon and thereby rotates. As the creature just wants to straighten up, it gets hit by its own weapon dramatically. His skull and upper body break into several pieces which even skim partially over the bridge's edge. The scraps of the black cowl also land wildly distributed on the ground. Only the bony lower body has been spared from getting destroyed.

From the distance, Dante can observe how any remnant of the demon crumbles to dust gradually. Satisfied with the outcome, Dante turns to Nero who has managed to stand up in the meanwhile. He just gets a little supported by the headquarters' wall.

"Now we're rid of him", Dante says while moving towards Nero. "And it seems like you would feel better." He points with his hands in the direction of the organization's head to draw attention to his stable looking posture. His demon arm gets its luminosity back also.

"Yeah, much better."

"Good. I didn't want to give you a piggyback ride anyway."

Nero grins and takes a few steps. Although these look a bit cumbersome, Nero keeps moving forward gradually so that he finally passes Dante. The demon hunter is still wary and watches Nero's movements to then follow him slowly, always ready for giving assistance to him if he should sink to the ground again.

"Don't ya think those demon had a crush on you somehow?", Dante asks out of an upcoming silence.

"For sure. As limp as I was I would've been just the perfect meal for him. A demon just feels invited by that."

"Hm", Dante only replies.

Now that Nero has done a few meters of walking without any incidents, Dante can be sure they will not occur further on so that he increases his pace to walk along together with Nero.

"I think it's strange that it reacted just barely to me. As the demon-hated _Son of Sparda_ I'm used to attract their attention automatically."

"Don't tell me you're jealous because you didn't play first fiddle once?", Nero replies teasingly.

"I'm deeply hurt!", Dante says and refers with that to Nero's joking although he indeed begins to wonder because of this inwardly.

"... Dante ... Please don't tell Kyrie anything about all of this. If she knew I might have become food for a demon, she would go crazy. She already bothers herself too much. And also don't tell her about the situation with Raul." "... Please", Nero finally adds when the demon hunter did not response at first.

"I don't think she gonna feel positive when I leave this part out generally 'cuz it doesn't change the fact that you're the current troublemaker and that something like this can happen anytime, which Kyrie is aware of for sure, but okay, I'll keep my mouth closed. Just a little hint for you: Don't shut yourself off to her that much. Talking doesn't make the situation better itself but it'll be easier for both of you to deal with. Mysteries make the whole thing just getting more complicated."

Nero's view is puzzled and he slows down his pace. "Dante? Is that really you? Those prudent relationship advices ... I didn't expect something like that from _you_ ..."

The demon hunter keeps moving, crosses his hands behind the back of his head and only enjoys the situation silently.


	4. Mission 4 - Between Sins and Surrender

**Mission 4**

_Between Sins and Surrender_

* * *

"I hope they're back soon ...", Kyrie says.

"Don't worry. Dante will work it out."

After Trish has uttered her words, steps, sounding from afar, are getting hearable.

When the door to the dining room opens and Nero and Dante emerge, Kyrie falls round her great love's neck, making relief and joy due to his returning come to light.

"I'm also happy to see you again", Dante says.

"I'm always happy to see you, Dante. You should know that", Trish winks at him.

"Where have you been the whole time?! I thought something has happened to you", Kyrie says to Nero, therewith interrupting the teasing of Trish and Dante.

"At the headquarters as mentioned earlier", Nero replies peacefully. "You already sent Dante off, searching for me like a tracker dog."

Kyrie's face looks worried again now. She tries to overlay it with a slight grin.

"Was everything okay out there?"

Dante receives a short, scrutinizing look from Kyrie which he responds to with a neutral one.

"Sure", Nero answers while grinning softly.

"Since you two are now reunited, Nero can tell you everything in calm. Trish and I hafta go back to the office anyway. Maybe a million dollar business is already waiting for us?"

The demon huntress turns her head towards him.

"You can gladly stay overnight if you like", Kyrie offers politely.

"Thanks but the sooner we get back the better."

Dante nods to Trish silently, telling her unobtrusively that the decision of him going back home just now is alright and that he is going to explain her the specific reasons later. He can recognize skepticism in her face which the others probably do not. She always tries to cover emotions with coolness. Just like Dante himself. Since both know each other far too well, the poker face can be identified from the other one all the time. On top of that, he can literally sense compassion which his colleague must have for Kyrie. As a demon created by Mundus, she has much too much feelings inside of her.

"You should leave immediately then. The last ship gonna leave the harbor in less than an hour", Nero explains.

"Well then, let's go!", Dante says, pointing his head to the door which leads out of the dining room. His suggestion is meant for Trish.

"Let me take you outside", Kyrie responds, being polite as always.

"It's okay. You better have a rest from the turbulent day!"

Dante raises his hand for a brief farewell to Kyrie. Nero, who stands next to Dante, gets a short pat on the back from him.

With open arms, Trish moves towards Kyrie, bringing her closer to herself. "Sorry for leaving all at once."

"That's just fine. I understand. You can't stay here forever."

The both women release their hugs. After that, Trish sends Kyrie a gesture to say that a call is welcomed anytime by stretching out her thumb and little finger of her right hand, therewith forming kind of a telephone handset. Kyrie nods in understanding. Turning away from Kyrie, Trish gives Nero a penetrating look while nodding slightly at the same time, which reaction Nero returns, and walks over to Dante.

Just before the demon hunters can leave the room, they get stopped by Kyrie:

"Hold on! You haven't got your on-the-go snack, Dante!"

She reaches for a bowl, which stands on the dining table and is covered with a kitchen towel, and hands it over to the demon hunter.

"It's lukewarm. Just good to eat."

"Oh, fantastic!", Are the words that escape Dante while his eyes light up joyfully. "What's that?"

Food comes just right on cue for him.

"Pottage."

"... Yummy ..." Dante's delighted face start to decrease.

"His favorite kind of food. Now we just have to make sure nothing spills out while hurrying to the harbor. Bye-bye!"

Trish waves her hands therewith setting the final farewell.

* * *

The chilly and powerful wind makes it difficult for Dante to spoon his food which have already got cold.

"Is it tasty?", Trish asks and grins cheekily.

"I eat almost everything when I'm hungry."

In a perfect timing, both of them had made it on board so that they are now sitting on the deck of an old ship which has not been created for a passenger transport only. Dante already had the opportunity to inform Trish about the conversation he has had with Nero as well as the event that took place afterwards in the meanwhile.

"Do you have a guess what Nero's decision gonna be?", She asks.

"I think he gonna cooperate with those guys. In the end, he seems to have at least a little bit of hope in terms of the examination since he raved of all the specialists from that Health Council during our way back to the castle. They would be _so competent_ and they surely gonna be careful 'cuz they gonna _consider_ _anything that could ever happen_ ..."

"Mhm ...", Trish utters in disbelief.

"Mhm ...", Dante repeats, sharing Trish's unspoken opinion.

"That Raul seems to have a strong influence on Nero ..."

"Seems like, yeah. I basically don't know him but I would suggest the few minutes of meeting him being enough for me to not like this guy. It would be just so typical if his interest only belongs to power games and that his concern about Nero's and Fortuna's well-being's just fake."

"But Nero trusts him blindly ..."

Trish cuddles more into the blanket which she found on the ship and summarily picked up for the navigation.

"Yeah, totally. So much that Kyrie should almost get jealous."

Trish grins briefly, getting more serious afterwards. "This is gonna gain momentum ..."

"Yup. Will be _fun_ ... But we can't do anything currently. Only when the shit hits the fan." Dante greedily slurps the soup bowl, puts it aside and wipes his mouth with the back of his right hand. "And I'm still hungry."

"It'll be a while before we get back to the office. But you'll survive."

"I hope Lady has ordered some pizza already ..."

"Are you kidding?", Trish emerges an ironic laughter. "'Cuz she can see that we're just about to come home and she'd advance even one little coin for _you_ who is being in dept with her that reach higher to the sky than any mountain in the world."

"I'm still allowed to dream ... Besides, you overdo a bit."

"But only a bit."

* * *

At dawn, Dante can determine his familiar environment. The returning seemed much longer and more exhausting to him than the journey to Fortuna. Together with Trish, he enters the office and discovers Lady who has made herself comfortable on the brown leather couch. Being curious about the sudden opening door, she turns her head and body towards the entering people to then sit up.

"You're back already?"

"That's how it looks like", Dante replies curtly. "Did something exciting happen during our trip?" Dante closes the door behind him.

"No, everything's the same. Not even a single job has got in. That's somewhat strange when I think of the last few weeks ..."

"Hm", Dante utters.

"I gonna order some pizza", Trish says while looking at Dante with a dogmatic glance and moves to the desk on where she immediately sits down to operate the old-fashioned telephone.

"How was it?", Lady asks.

"Odd", Dante answers and places his weapons in the room's locations where he always stores them.

With a questioning face, Lady sinks deeper into the sofa, crossing legs and arms.

After ordering pizza successfully, Trish puts down the phone and incorporates herself into the group.

"Update number two ...", Dante sighs before sitting down on the chair behind his desk.

Every time, it takes a lot of renewed effort for him to tell things twice. He is not a friend of repetitions and even more so of long storytelling. This case does not make it more convenient for him since Lady needs more details than Trish who joined the trip to Fortuna. Also, Lady never has met Nero and Kyrie personally. She only knows about them because of Dante's narrative which had been two years ago. Dante, however, takes heart and presents Lady with the relevant and necessary information.

Starting with the meeting with Nero and Kyrie right after the demon hunter's arrival in Fortuna, transitioning into the fight against a large horde of demons which suddenly came about - conspicuously emerged from a concentrated point of the island, the water -, Dante shares any fact that is worth knowing. He continues with Nero's loss of control, the conversation between both men - not to forget about the jeremiad of Raul - and finally mentions the demon who arose from nowhere and who had a steady focus on the organization's head.

"By this time, I tend to suspect all circumstances being related to each other. Nero's demonic arm, which just must be the cause of his blackouts, then the sudden demon attack out of the water, which is very strange by the way. For what exact reason did they come out of the water? And as if that wasn't enough, my brother's words ..."

"Those signs are indeed very strange and unpleasant ...", Lady replies reflectively.

Dante shrugs his shoulders to show approval for Lady.

"But now it's pizza time!"

He removes his legs from the desk which he likes to rest there so often, opens the lid of the pizza box and takes out a piece of salami pizza that has been delivered in the meantime and which, of course, does not have added unwelcomed olives. Sensually, he takes a huge bite.

"But hey, that demon; was he really crazy for Nero only?", Lady asks and also helps herself.

"Absolutely!", Dante replies and continues enjoying his pizza. "He didn't want to play with _me_ ..." While having his mouth full, he let sound the voice of an offended child, as far as it is possible for him.

"Poor Dante ...", Trish says while reaching for a piece of pizza as well.

Lady looks sideways, apparently getting lost in thoughts, before speaking, "What did that demon look like? Would you say he could've fit into the demons' of the seven deadly sins ranks?"

"... Yeah ... Hell yeah! That's just a _perfect_ description! He was just as bony and hollow as them too." Dante chews his food to then continue, "C'mon, Lady. You know more."

"Well, when I'm recalling the last few jobs and my trips then I realize that demon attacks have increased and with that we also have more types of demons. It seems to exist a new group that respond to certain people's emotions even if they're not punishable at all, such as fear, joy, loneliness, and so on. Just as every demon of the seven deadly sins fulfills its own part to punish people for, maybe, hate, lust, and so on, those ones solely react to emotions. In addition to this, they look pretty similar to our _old demon friends_."

"Okay ...? It's well known that demons don't like fair plays. You can perfectly see that at higher-order demons right from the demon world who just want to destroy everything and everyone who gets in their way. That's why that world should always stay closed. Plus those kind of demons are a little bit _smarter_ what makes them even more dangerous aside of their physical strength. But the _system_ of those demons who remain in the human world is different. According to the scriptures from hell, they appear in the human world in spite of a closed gate 'cuz they're made to punish people's evil deeds since the beginning of time. What you're describing sounds like arbitrary punishment and has nothing to do with that _system_ ..."

"That's exactly the point."

"Can you back up your finding somehow?"

"Sure", Lady says, puts her bitten piece of pizza back into the pizza box, stripes off the remaining crumbs from her gloves and rest her hands on the desk, bringing herself closer and more onto eye level to the demon hunter, who sits relaxed in the back of his chair. "Let's just start with yesterday's job. The old man. Did you notice anything special about those _critters_?"

"Well, there were many of 'em and now that I know your assumption I can tell that I haven't seen such demons before. Just those deadly sins demons of course whom they indeed looked similar. I don't view those douchebags _that_ closely since they're far too insignificant. That's why I didn't realize 'em in that moment."

A smile in Lady's face gets visible as if she wanted to let Dante know the words "You see!" only through her facial expression.

"But how do you suggest the demons were responding to certain emotions of the man in this case?", Dante asks curiously.

"Mr. Grigorious is known as a lonely and depressive man throughout the whole city. Did you notice the demon's grimaces? They looked pretty sordid and sad. Apart from the fact that the horde would've had continued attacking the man if I hadn't steered him into his car ..."

"That's not really convincing. Besides, who knows how many skeletons he has in the closet ... I don't trust old and depressed people."

"Then I just gonna give you another example on top. This one's even better: Last week, I handled a job where a demon was trying to hurt a _six year old girl_, Beverley. An innocent, carefree and happy girl. Those demons also fitted into the scheme I just mentioned and their focus solely belonged to the girl. Unlike the demons who attacked the old man, those ones had a _cheeky grin_ on their face. She was just playing with dolls when the demons suddenly appeared!"

"Well, it's common that children can be little devils. That's nothing new", Dante says.

Since Lady wants to keep this topic serious, which makes Dante's joke become inappropriate, she forms a countenance telling him that she is not being amused.

"... And now it's Nero who has been haunted by one. Everyone of the just mentioned examples was punished for a specific reason. In my opinion for the feeling of certain emotions. Because of Nero, I can imagine that he had been punished for loss of control or even for weakness in that moment. _Nero's demon_ also shows that their spreading is independent of the island which means, they can appear on the whole globe. If this is gonna continue, the phone will be ringing all day ..."

"Good for the business, bad for the people", Dante says.

"There were even skeletons among those demons who came out of the water ...", Trish says.

"Among others, yeah", Dante confirms.

"Nobody can tell me this is without any meaning anyway ...", Lady says.

"That's certainly no coincidence, but Mundus' work ...", Trish says.

"Is it also Mundus being responsible for Nero's problematic arm?", Lady asks questioningly into the group.

"Possible. Maybe he's using Nero as another puppet for luring Dante", Trish replies, looking at Lady to then let her gaze wander to the demon hunter. "That would be also an explanation for me why Nero says the word's, typical for your brother. Mundus wants to build up emotional pressure. Just as always ..."

"... And in terms of emotions, he creates all the new demons, who react to people's emotions, just for us to have a little warm-up. This is not even a bad guess, Trish!"

"I know how my good old friend ticks."

"But why especially Nero? What does Nero have to do with Vergil?", Lady asks, addressing the question directly to Trish.

"... Because he has an _outward semblance_ to the _Sons of Sparda_?", Trish replies as a pure conjecture.

Lady shrugs. "No idea. I've never seen him before."

"Excuse me?", Dante interposes with eyes being dominated by skepticism.

"I think so at least ...", Trish replies shortly.

The demon hunter shakes his head in disbelief. "Well, in the end there's certainly one thing we all agree on ... And that is that I should get the last piece of pizza", He says and is just about to grab the leftover piece of food when Trish preempts Dante, speaking the words, "Rather me as reward for my smart brainwave."

"Good choice of mine having breakfast earlier than usual ...", Lady says to herself.

* * *

Severity rests on his heart while heading to the meeting room. As agreed, Nero is going to meet Raul who already stands in front of the closed door.

"Good morning, Nero." Raul's mood is neutral.

Nero's body is filled with tense which operates on his face. He has to swallow before he can answer Raul's greeting, "Morning."

The just started conversation pauses briefly. It is only hearable Nero's voice, echoing through the big headquarters' hall of today's Organization.

"I think we shouldn't waste our time for a small talk. Let me get to the point: What's your decision?", Raul asks, thus allowing the conversation to continue as the echo mutes.

"You're gonna know very soon ...", Nero says, walking past Raul and opens the door to the meeting room.

All of the council's heads have gathered for today's meeting, taking place once a month. The Security Council, the Research Council, the Health Council and the Council for Economics, Education and Finance; only Kyrie as the kindhearted soul of the folks is not being present this time.

The twelve participants sit at a mighty, white marble table whose exterior is round and transitions into a beam form in the inner area. On the slender platform in the middle stands a miniature of Fortuna's castle town with a map next to it. This is needed for discussing and planning strategic as well as tactical approaches. Due to the table's sumptuous size, it occupies almost the entire rounded room which Sanctus used to use for meetings with his consultants. Its princely architecture, generated by all the adornments and pillars on the walls, is the only thing out of Sanctus' reign times that has been serving as an inspiration for Fortuna's citizens to reconstruct this room in the old style, and therewith the entire headquarter. The blue carpet, containing golden flower ornaments and having a big circular form, provides the dull room with a bit of color.

As a procedure being held in any meetings, the participants immediately stand up from their pale but pompous created seats to show Nero some token of respect. Traditionally, the members would carry on standing until Nero has found his seat to afterwards sit down together with him. Today, however, it is different. With a short hint, Nero invites his colleagues to have a seat by now.

His otherwise strong, radiant and positive charisma seems to have been extinguished. By contrast, his external appearance looks grim and his expression is rigid. The participants recognize the changing of Nero since some of them frown in wonderment.

While Nero moves to his middle seat on the right side of the table, he is followed by Raul who has his seat right next to him. Unlike Raul, Nero does not sit down; he stops behind the back of his chair and places his hands on it.

"Good ... morning everyone", Nero says, his speech being already halted.

_What should be good about this morning? _

He takes a deep breath to then continue, "Before the meeting starts, you should know about an important change. I shall be brief: All of you will be now following Raul's guidance solely."

Bewilderment spreads through the people all around, getting gradually hearable due to murmur.

"I just need some break ... That's why the leading position will be changing a bit.", Nero says, raising his tone in order to outdo the audience's volume.

"Is everything okay with you?", Nero hears a male, well-sounding voice, coming from across, calling out loud.

It is Tyron, the young head who belongs to the Security Council and who is accountable for the district of Fortuna's castle town. He already has stood up in the meanwhile, now looking at Nero with suspicious eyes.

Nero thought carefully about the preparation of his speech. He wanted it to be structured and reputable but above all, it should have been held in an improved sentiment; unlike he is doing it now.

Too many streams of thoughts came up on Nero in the middle of the night, made him staying awake to, in the end, maybe just have had caught a few moments of sleep. Instead of rolling around in bed, he decided to prepare his announcement. However, the elaboration of speech only made him sink deeper into his intellectual world which presently consists of predictions about a dark future. Not only for him but also for Kyrie and the whole Fortuna region as well. Those thoughts literally drove him crazy. So he spent the whole night until dawn combing through his imagination of which he only could use a small fraction for creating a speech. Retrospective, it is even almost admirable that Nero was able to bring something on paper in general since those innumerable thoughts made his body feel paralyzed occasionally. It was a good idea of him to sit outside in the cold, thus helping him to focus and concentrate before it became too uncomfortable for the skin.

Actually, he intended to hide the feeling of inner emptiness, which, however, sometimes was filled with other emotions, such as sadness and indescribable anger, and to perform a strong person instead. Like an actor. _Performing himself._ _Performing Nero._ He feels like getting distracted from his own personality.

A professional speech. This was all he intended to absolve to not cause any disturbances from the other side he would talk to. Acting like a leader, or better said, like the big brother of _Golden Fortuna_. That is how he sees himself.

Now standing here, he has to admit his speech is being a pure disaster. The complete opposite of his _ingenious plan_.

This is where the error shows up already. It was never necessary for Nero to plan anything in life. So far, the best ideas crossed his brain spontaneously. This made him being authentic, honest and natural in people's eyes.

_ "Is everything okay with you?"_, Tyron asked just a few moments ago.

_Honestly? No, nothing is okay. I'm not even able to abdicate my position._

"Nero!?"

He perceives Tyron's voice which finally brings him back to reality. The grip on his chair consolidates. This tension shall help him staying present for, at least, the rest of his speech and getting the best out of it. If that should be possible anyway.

"There's no need to worry about me", Nero says, therewith resuming his announcement.

His voice sounds softer and calmer now. He lets his eyes wander through the across sitting participants. The murmur has dropped in the meantime. Expectantly, he gets viewed by the present organizational members.

"Fortuna's reconstruction has drained my energy. All the planning, implementation, structuring, management, and so on was heavier than expected. I've never had such a great responsibility before."

Nero even grins while recalling memories of newly times after Sanctus' downfall. In addition to this, Nero's body tension subsides.

"This variation is only temporary of course until I've recovered completely. Please just let treat myself to repose and I'll come back as the old Nero but with more energy than ever. Needless to say, Raul's gonna rock this and with him everything continues normally."

Astonished looks from the audience dissolve, becoming to insightful ones. The members nod, smile and mention words like "understandable" or "take your time".

Contrary to Tyron's reaction since there is still doubt left in his face.

"Is there something left to discuss what you need me for? 'Cuz otherwise I just gonna say goodbye and leave the field to Raul", Nero says and pats on his successor's back.

Raul seems to be surprised because of Nero's abruptly loose behavior.

As the silent moment passes, it is Nero breaking it, "Well, then. Thank you everyone. You always did a great job. We were able to advance Fortuna's development only together. Please keep that up."

For the conclusion of his speech, Nero receives a loud applause. He points with his eyes to the door. This sign is meant for Raul, telling him silently that he wants to talk to him outside. Nero walks to the door with Raul following as the blonde man addresses a short sentence to the organizational members before both leave the room, "Please excuse us for a second."

Standing in front of the closed meeting room's door, Raul starts the conversation, "You deserve my greatest respect, Nero. It's remarkable you're taking this step which won't be easy. That's certain. Nobody would like to be in your shoes right now."

Raul, the new temporary head of _Golden Fortuna_, appears very cold and emotionless. As inappropriate as his charisma in consideration of his friendly words may be, Nero knows exactly how to understand Raul's reaction. It is always about to focus on what he said and to give no importance to missing emotions. This is what Nero learned during the past two years of knowing him, contemporary consider Raul being his closest friend and brother.

The respect of the other ones fighting skills as well as the similar and unpleasant childhood made both building up such a deep and brotherly relationship. Raul is seven years older than Nero and as distinguished from him, he is the master of true sword fighting. Nero is talented to that effect too, this may beyond debate, but wagging a struggle with Raul, only executed as an honorable and fair sword combat, would make Nero loosing. The silver-white haired man is rather an all-round fighter, therefore able to handle different fighting techniques and weapons, not to mention his _Devil Bringer_ as a destructive bonus.

Formative childhood surely is the main reason for that strong bond between them, though.

As a newborn baby, Raul was given away by his parents. He grew up with adoptive parents who were not able for parenting unfortunately. Violence was considered being the main method for education. In the early teens, Raul finally decided to take heels to, from then on, learn how to plow through life all by himself. Maybe the none availability of love was the origin reason why he struggles with showing feelings openly today.

Emptiness, loneliness and the belief of being lost, not knowing where to belong. All these kind of feelings are totally understandable to Nero since he has felt them in the past. His childhood's memories even start with that emotions. He remembers walking around aimlessly and lonely as a little boy in Fortuna's castle town. Not before being found by a member of the _Order of the Sword_ and, in the end, being accommodated by this Order, he felt the true meaning of safety and home. Even to this day it is unknown to him what happened to his birth parents, who they actually are and who in all belongs to his bloodline. However, something must have happened back then; why he should not be able to remember any events that must have took place before joining the _Order of the Sword_ otherwise? Although his dark memories, they certainly began to get lighter after that moment of himself becoming a big unit's part. Unfortunately, this fact was not being meant to last forever.

Nero never investigated his true origin. He lets the past may be what it is in the end - the unchanging past. Despite of all those circumstances, he still has grown to a man with strong personality.

"I just hope that the investigation is good for something ...", Nero says.

"You are skeptical, I totally understand. Even if we have no guarantee that research will lead us to a result why your arm is getting out of control, it is at least worth a try. He have highly qualified researchers and doctors in our ranks and with that a certain chance to turn things for the better", Raul explains. "It's definitely not going to get pleasing for you but you'll survive. You're way too strong and persistent to take a down."

"Did you even consider the worst case ...?"

"Of course I did. All persons who are involved in this _project_ know about their risk. The rooms are prepared also. Aside from that, I've developed an emergency plan in case you are going to try to escape ..."

"And how does that plan work?"

"Are you sure you want to know it?"

"... No, you better don't tell me ... I trust you, Raul."

"I know that and it's good you're doing so", He replies. "Do I have to know anything before taking office?"

"You're the one who has the best overview of everything here. You've got everything on screen", Nero says while becoming more loosely. "Oh ... maybe you can deal with renovating the HQ's facade. The wall outside has gotten a scratch. The floor would need a fix too. Doesn't look that inviting currently."

Humor crystallizes out of Nero's words. The looseness, however, changes into sobriety afterwards:

"And one more thing: When speaking to the folks, please just give my regards to them and express my biggest gratitude. Every citizen worked hard for Fortuna's reconstruction. And also please tell them that I'm sorry I ain't gonna show up the next time ..."

"I'll do so."

"... And take care of Kyrie ..."

"I know what she means to you. Accordingly. I'll protect her with everything I have."

"Good ... 'Cuz otherwise you'll gonna be the first who's getting killed after my turning into a full-blooded demon ...", Nero says and grins maliciously.

To his surprise, Raul's face shows a decent smile.

"So ... Where's the escort who leads me to my new home?"

"Hayden is waiting with his troop behind that door", Raul says and points with his finger to the passage which is at the end of the corridor. "The others don't have to get aware of this situation."

"Okay ..."

"I'll come to see you regularly", Raul continues and pats Nero on his back.

Following this, Nero watches Raul opening the door to the meeting room to then stepping back immediately. Tyron pushes past him.

"Oh, good you're still here", He says after recognizing Nero.

"The meeting will now be continued", Raul interrupts in a tone which is even hearable for the participants in the room.

"I'll be joining later", Tyron says to Raul in a low voice.

"We have a lot to discuss due to the leadership's changing. That's why you should join this meeting _right now_", Raul says. He has regulated the volume of his voice also. However, his tone sounds still something harsh.

"If I should've missed something important, then I'll just get all of the needed information from the others. It's okay."

"You think so? Alright, but if it should come to polls, your voting will be missing and not being integrated into the overall result. And the process won't be repeated."

The face of Tyron looks dissatisfied.

"It ain't gonna take _that_ long, right?", Nero says to Tyron, trying to defuse the dialogue between the two men.

"No. I'll be back sooner than expected", Tyron replies, focusing on Raul's hard expression which seems to rub off on him.

Raul takes one last look to Nero and finally enters the meeting room, closing the door behind him in a controlled pace, but still with a bit of roughness.

"Thanks", Tyron says and his tension reduces as he let the distance between him and Nero become shorter. "He uses any opportunity to show me how much we _harmonize together_. I guess, it'll remain this way and now that you gonna be absent any time soon, he'll just blow my horn."

"I hope you guys don't bash each other", Nero replies in a funny mood.

"If he should pass the limit, and yeah, even Raul isn't allowed to do anything he want to, even as the new _boss_, I just won't accept that. I simply don't care about his position", Tyron says snippily, his expression hardening again. A facial expression which does not match his soft and friendly face at all.

"I know about the difficult relationship you both have. But still, Raul is not that kinda person who would take advantage of his power, trying to hassle or getting rid of you somehow. He knows that I wanna have you in my team and that I'm convinced from your abilities. Even he ain't. No matter what, he respects my decision. So you don't hafta worry about losing your job though I gonna be _absent_ for the next time. Did you want to talk with me about that?"

"Not really ...", Tyron says modestly, hesitating before going ahead. "What's the real cause for leaving the Organization, Nero?"

He widens his round, gray-blue eyes, this way making them look even bigger. They seem to signalize pure sincerity.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not buying that story. I know you always worked hard for the Organization and Fortuna. It's totally fine you wanna come down now, but why do you distance yourself from the Organization completely? You didn't even mention a time period of how long you gonna stay away approximately. That's just not like you. To be honest, your speech sounded to me like you ain't gonna come back anyway and you just don't have the balls to say that."

"... That's what makes you a valuable person at least. Your badass honesty. Not to mention your handyman skills in fighting", Nero says. "Tyron, I really need a break. This arm is driving me crazy. It drains my energy damn hard. I don't know how long it's gonna take. That's why I couldn't even guess when I gonna be back on board."

"Your arm? Did you have those attacks because of it the night before? The guys told me about it ..."

"Yeah ...", Nero says, obviously finding it hard to admit. "But I don't wanna talk about this now, okay? Besides, you should go back to the meeting. You wouldn't do yourself a favor when missing there any longer."

"Okay ... I hope you're gonna feel better soon ..."

Nero nods shortly.

"Then I'll just leave you alone ... Take care", Tyron says, moving backwards to the meeting room's door.

"See ya", Nero replies.

He turns away from him, resolutely heading towards the door at the end of the corridor and calls out to Tyron, "Just go for it and show Raul what you've got!"


	5. Mission 5 - Wondrous Clientele

**Mission 5**

_Wondrous Clientele_

* * *

Seven days after Dante's return from Fortuna have passed when it is now knocking at the office's door.

Getting visited by a customer without a call beforehand, is rather unusual for his business. With a surprised look, Dante focuses the door which finally opens.

A brown-haired woman enters the room.

"Well, who do we have here ...?", Dante says and his voice starts to get husky. He sinks deeper into his pompous chair and let the magazine in his left hand fall onto the table.

"We always meet people twice in life", She says, closes the door and approaches the demon hunter.

"It really seems so. And the first time was definitely much too short ..."

She responds with the same coquettish grin which Dante shows in his face.

"What made you coming up despite that long way, Hera? Is it because of longing?"

She laughs slightly. "Something like that. I got a job for you. It very pleases me, by the way, that you even remember my name ..."

"Of course I do! I never forget beauties' names. Especially not the beauty itself."

She shakes her head in amusement.

"Now tell me. What's the deal with that job?"

"For about five years now, I have been dreaming of a kinda _angel_ with black wings almost every night. In this dream, he always mentions a red book and even my home island, Alba Island, pops up in it. And for some reason, he blabs something about _my purpose_."

"Well, I'm not quite sure if I'm the right person for you since mental care ain't part of my job, sweetie ...", Dante says.

"I know this sounds crazy ...", She laughs again when it starts to decrease. "But I'm not finish with telling yet. At first, I didn't care for those dreams and I just ignored them, even though it was strange to me that they would repeat over the years. However, when my parents died not long ago, I found a red book in their wardrobe when clearing out the house. That from the dreams ..."

She reaches into her brown leather satchel, takes out the intimated red-covered book and hands it over to Dante when he leans forward to grab it.

"It was marked on the same page when I found it", She continues speaking and points to the old book.

Looking skeptical, Dante opens the book on the page, marked with a reddish ribbon. A drawing of a long-haired woman with two wings hits his eyes immediately. The right wing is drawn dark and sharp whereas the other one is pictured light and roundish. She holds a narrow short sword in her left hand. Her right arm is angled and her palm is filled with three spheres which have different contrasts.

Dante rolls his eyes to the parallel side. The following handwritten text gets readable for him:

_"The darkness from a demon's interiority will vanish for light, revealing a heart. Giving freedom to the mortals and death to the breed. His love will reach a woman, letting it course all through her body and over to the flesh of two men - so will his legacy. Albeit peace will come to an end, making the traitor suffer when evil rises, the offspring will be spared from punishment. A gift, entailing mothers benevolence and shelter. _

_Disequilibria, brought by the eclipse's emperor, will find adjustment - the blood angel's destiny. Born as a new species but covered in a human's appearance, she will unite light and dark, obtained from the father. Him being a divinity who has become sinful." _

"Blood angel? What's that kinda crazy shit?", Dante says with a mix of astonishment and exhilaration.

"Do you now understand why I'm here? I want to find out why it's me who has those dreams and what's about that angel and this book specifically. It really pisses me off that this _something_ breaks my restful sleep! And that even for five fucking years!" With her anger, the voice of Hera gets stronger and louder.

"Oh, I'm totally with you. I would be pissed too. Alright, let me check this one more time." Dante takes a closer look at the two pages and reads through the text again, but slower and more detailed than before. "The first paragraph is about the story of Sparda. No doubt. And this drawing is supposed to represent that blood angel. That's why the woman has different wings. Light and dark, so good and evil. _'... obtained from the father. Him being a divinity who has become sinful.'_ This is the part that leads us to the angel from your dreams. His black wings could be an indication for his sins. Thinking about the existence of angels, everyone would guess them to have white wings normally."

"That's what I figured out too ..."

"But this would mean that this _sinful divinity_ thinks of you being his _daughter_ ..."

"Which is just wrong. I'm a normal human who had normal parents. I'm not a _blood angel_. I don't even would wish myself to be the daughter of _something like that_."

"I couldn't stand it either. Then rather having a demon as father", Dante jokes and turns to the next page.

He immediately notices that one entry on the right side has been torn out. Instead, he gets to see a text which is not decipherable for Dante. It does not seem to have been written in the human language. Nevertheless, he can notice its different handwriting. So Dante devotes himself to the page on the left:

_"On the island of the gods, greeted by the sun and the moon, the cold stone preserves the sanctuary of the divine being. The deep darkness and the aloft light, uniting for the living unicum. Back to the beginning of time. Restoration of equilibrium, nature, law of life." _

"A sanctuary ...?", He echoes questioningly. "This blood angel seems to be really important ..."

"That sanctuary could be the place on Alba Island which I see in my dreams all the time."

"So Alba Island would be the _island of gods_ if you're right. I've never heard about that island before ..."

"Alba Island is damn far away from all the other island and rather unknown", Hera explains. "That means the first thing you do is to come with me to Alba Island to search for the blood angel's sanctuary. I think I even know where it could be ..."

"Not so fast ...", Dante says. "How much is it worth to you to elucidate that crazy story and to get back your restful sleep?"

"You mean how much I gonna pay for the job? Well, our _negotiation_ shouldn't fail because of that", Hera says and bends down to her feet.

When coming up, she puts several folded 100 dollar bank notes on the table while grinning proudly. Dante unthreads the bank notes and stacks them after smoothing.

"700 dollars?"

"That's only a little retainer of course. Nobody knows what the mission will bring, so I can't estimate the exact amount yet, but no matter how the mission's gonna end, I'm sure you'll be satisfied with the total payment."

700 dollars only as an advanced money? That does not only sound like a curious, but also a winning affair.

Dante gives thanks to Hera when he nods and hides the money in his coat.

"What else kind of secrets do you have ...?", Dante says and keeps his eyes fixed on Hera when he finally turns them back to the book and browses.

"Do you mean the book or I?"

"Both."

Hera raises her right eyebrow, which reaction Dante can see from the corner of his eye, and replies: "I can't decode the other pages. Maybe they're just written in another language that I don't understand."

"No commentary to my question, ha?", Dante says while grinning and focusing the pages of the book.

Hera keeps quiet.

"Okay ... All this entries could be written in the language of the demons. I can recognize some extracts of Latin in there. For security reasons maybe encrypted too ... But still we have the question left why exactly these two entries are written in the language of the humans. They must come from somebody else since they have different handwritings ... How did your parents just get this book ...?"

"If I only knew. I can't even ask them ..."

"Oh ... sorry, by the way", Dante says and looks up to Hera.

"That's the course of life", She says neutrally. "Oh! There's even another readable entry that I wanted to show you too. May I ...?"

Dante hands the book over to Hera who grabs a pack of the many book pages and flips them over. It takes a while when Hera finally shouts out the words, "There it is!" With that, she gives the book back to Dante who reads on the right:

_"I am so close to my goal. My dream will become reality and the power of Sparda will be mine. Kalina Ann was not sacrificed in vain. Very soon, the door to hell will stand open. Not even the sons of Sparda know how to break the seal. They will witness when Sparda's power is transmitted to me, a person who is insignificant in their eyes. _

_I am the chosen one. It is only a matter of time before the amulets will get in my possession. There is more than enough demon blood from Vergil and Dante and my beloved daughter will give me some of her pure blood assuredly. All of you will surrender and bow down before me to admire my incredible power. Nobody is able to stop me. Temen-ni-gru will be everyone's grave. The day of judgment is inevitable ..." _

"Arkham ...", Dante says puzzled.

"Ark ... what?"

"The whole thing is getting better and better ..."

He closes the book to consider its cover more detailed but keeps the index finger inside to not lose the page. Now Dante is able to remember the book which Lady's father always carried with him before his death. It is especially the situation happened in the tower called _Temen-ni-gru_ a few years ago when Dante saw Arkham's bloodstained and presumed dead body lying on the ground with that book on his stomach which comes to his mind. Just when he was on his way to Vergil to thwart his brother's plans. This book is probably one and the same from the past - and he is now holding it in his hands.

_ "That should be extremely interesting for Lady ...",_ Dante says, talking to himself in his mind.

"So you know the entry or that person who wrote it?"

"That's how you could say it ..."

"So? Who is it then?"

"Just one of the many freaks who thought he could control Sparda's power ...", Dante answers, not wanting Hera to know any more details.

"I see ... Well, if I'm right, there are three persons who have perpetuated in the book since we got three different handwritings."

"Yeah, seems like the book has had a long journey and did see more places than both of us together. It even looks like that ... Maybe that angel wrote some entries too ..."

"Could be an option ... Then let's just start the adventure!"

Right in this moment, the door is opening and Lady as well as Trish are entering the office.

"There you are! I got hot news for you!", Dante blurts out his words.

"Well, then we come just in time", Trish says and gives a skeptical and questioning look to the brown-haired woman when noticing her while Lady closes the door.

"Let me introduce this woman to you. This is Hera, our new customer. She's probably familiar to you, Trish."

"Indeed she is ... The speaking acquaintance."

Now it is even Lady's face who looks surprised. She lets her gaze wander from Dante to Trish alternately.

"We met her in Fortuna just briefly. Who would've expected that she would entrust us with a job just a few days later? And this one's even pack a punch. Lady, look at this!" Dante holds up the red book, waving it back and forth.

The questioning expression of Lady persists as she approaches the demon hunter and comes to a halt in front of his desk.

"Do you recognize it?", He adds, putting the book under her nose.

"That's a book ..."

"You don't say!", Dante laughs. "But not just any book."

He opens it and shows Arkham's entry, which he can rediscover easily due to his forefinger as a replacement for a bookmark, to Lady.

"I don't believe that ...", She says disconcertedly after reading.

Lady's reaction seems to have aroused Trish's curiosity when she walks over to the black-haired woman with her arms crossed and peers into the book as well.

"Where did you get that from?" Lady turns to Hera abruptly and stares at her.

"I found it in my parent's wardrobe", She answers calmly.

"In your parent's wardrobe?!"

"Okay, before this question-response game does start once again, let me give you a lil summary", Dante interrupts. "This lady here has been dreaming of a creature, which she would describe as an angel, for five years. In this dreams, it calls attention to a red book and her destiny. Hera is from Alba Island and that island also appears in her dreams. It's possibly _the island of gods._" Dante moves his hands through the air to give a better expression to his telling regarding the island.

Lady and Trish look at each other suspiciously.

"Her parents died recently and during a _clean-up operation_ she found this red book in the wardrobe. Looking inside of it, you can find tons of entries in another language and with different handwritings. It might be an old language of the demons, maybe just encrypted in addition. But two entries are human-readable and the handwriting of these texts are different from the others. As far as I can say, we have three authors in total. I gonna read you something."

Dante pulls the book, which Lady has put down on the desk in disbelief in the meanwhile, back to him and flips a thick pack of pages over. Since the red ribbon still markers the text he wants to show to Lady, he can find it immediately.

He clears his throat before reading the entries of the blood angel to his colleagues with utmost poetry and drama. It is Hera who laughs and applauds because of Dante's lecture what makes him bow afterwards.

"I don't know if it's you or that author who's having a screw loose", Trish says with dry sense of humor which makes Lady smile for a moment.

"That's marvelous, isn't it?", Dante laughs. "The plan is now that Hera and I will make our way to Alba Island 'cuz in her dreams also appears a special place that could be those sanctuary of the blood angel. Let's see what we can find out." Dante moves away from his desk and grabs his weapons.

"That's definitely a trap!", Lady says.

"Possible, but if we don't check the hints, we'll never know what it's all about."

"And in the end it turns out the angel just to be a demon -", Trish says and stops herself immediately when she finally goes on after a short thoughtful moment, "... Maybe even Mundus",

"You mean, another game of him?", Lady asks.

"Well, if he really should be involved into this, he definitely shows much creativity this time!", Dante says and moves to the door.

"Wait a minute ...", Trish says calmly and turns to Dante. "At the time when I was a slave of Mundus, I heard him philosophizing about a fight, demons against angels, 2,000 years ago. I even think it was Alba Island which he called the home of angels. At least the name of the island rings a bell now ..."

"What?! Why didn't you ever tell us?", Dante utters.

"I did never take Mundus words seriously. For a demon he might act pretty smart and strategic, but as self-centered and megalomaniac as he is, you can easily get the impression of him being insane and treacherous just to illustrate his power somehow. That's why I probably suppressed that memory ..."

"Do you know more about it?"

"Only that the demons could kill every single angel under Mundus' leadership. The way Mundus said it, the event must have happened before Sparda's change of mind to serve humans and not his race."

"Then the angel's existence might not be that absurd ...", Lady says.

"Okay ... Time has come to clear up what's going on here. Now it's me who feels to live in a daydream", Dante says and presses down the door handle.

Hera keeps silent, but her face reveals confusion that she must have inside of her.

"Ah, one more thing", Dante starts to say and desists his hand from the door handle. "Lady, do you know how your father had got the book anyway and where it had been after he ..."

"... No. I had no idea that this book would be so important one day. I didn't pay attention to it at all ..."

"I thought so. Well, then ... Ready for some action!" Dante presses down the door handle one more time and tears open the door.

"Do you need assistance?" It is Trish who is asking.

Dante points his right thumb to Hera who just wanted to follow him. "Besides, let me check the situation first."

"I see ...", Trish says while grinning.

"See you, girls! Be good and ... maybe you'll see me coming back with a halo ..."


	6. Mission 6- The Blood Angel's Sacred Site

**Mission 6**

_The Blood Angel's Sacred Site_

* * *

"It feels like vacation here", Dante says while leaving the ship and entering the stone floor of the harbor of Alba Island, which seems to be emptied, together with Hera.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

The harbor is surrounded by mighty mountains in the main part. What an impressive sight. The demon hunter, however, is more interested in the pompous yacht that makes the other small and modern boats getting insignificant. Two long stone bridges lead out of the harbor whereof Dante and Hera cross one. Meanwhile, he looks to the opposite bridge and the sand in the deep. The conditions for a beach party would be near to perfect if the sea was not separated from the sand by the harbor. He turns his head back to the middle and looks at the end of the bridge. There, the stone floor transitions into a gravel path which forms a wide arc to finally connect to the street further away. White houses get recognizable at this point though there are only a few.

It gets greener generally at the stone bridge's end. Lush and wild grass, bushes and a few medium-sized trees extend there. In the middle of the meadow and parallel to the two stone bridges, it can be seen a rectangular asphalt which functions as a parking lot. Only two cars park there. On each side of the space has been laid out a flower meadow. The accurate form of those let suggest that it must have been made by human hands. Both are shaped like one half of a heart. However, it could also be angel wings which would be very appropriate for an island that is supposed to be a divine one.

"We'll get into my car right away and drive to that place where, hopefully, the sanctuary is", Hera says while approaching the parking lot.

"What's this?", Dante asks being puzzled about a white, large, and broken platform on the ground.

"This is the rest of an old statue that got destroyed for kinda thousands of years ago. I can't say more."

"Uh huh ... And why does nobody wants to rebuild the statue? I mean, this here doesn't look that ... _inviting_ ..."

"'Cuz nobody cares about. You know, Alba Island is the pure freedom. We don't have any systems, rules, and governments. This has its pros and, of course, its cons. There are no official persons who make sure that everything works. We don't have a strict economy and all that. Maybe some volunteers deal with certain things when they have a good day. Otherwise it's in the responsibility of each resident to take care of their own stuff."

"And this shall work?"

"Surprisingly, it works pretty well. There is no reason to complain about anything and if someone does, well then change it. Probably that _non-system_ only works because the people who live here can afford freedom."

"Yeah, you can tell the people's wealth only when looking at the yacht and all the nice boats over there ... and these two cars ..."

Dante eyes the vehicles which both are sports cars. One is painted red and the second one black. The darker one looks even more noble and expensive. It is exactly this vehicle which Hera opens with a key.

"... And you're one of the lucky ones, huh?", Dante says.

The car top opens when Hera pushes a button on the driver's side. Grinning at Dante, she response, "I owe that to my parents. They always made sure that I would lack nothing."

She places her shoulder bag, in which she stores the red book, on the backseat.

"They have built wealth all by themselves. My father worked as a fisherman. He delivered special and rare fish to the residents of Alba Island and the surrounding islands. You wouldn't find that kind of fish in other regions that's why his customers always paid big bucks. My mother did the same but with fruits and vegetables. The soils on this island are very fertile, so she always brought home good money too."

"Not bad. And that is even enough for leaving good inheritance? The advance payment of 700 dollars must be just peanuts for you, right?"

"Let's say, my pain barrier in terms of money moves across other spheres ..."

"Nice expression", Dante smirks.

"... Business was good despite expensive prices. People just appreciated quality. When I got involved, their businesses boomed even more!"

Throughout the whole conversation, Dante keeps his eyes focused on the luxury vehicle and walks around it for a better inspection of its _curves_. He even slides his finger across the bulge of the hood. The entire body is polished finely so that he can recognize his face to the smallest detail.

"How did they died actually?"

"Why are you asking? Do you think someone helped to let them pass away prematurely?"

"That would be quite a classic as you can see in movies", Dante says and his grin intensifies. "But I don't think about anything right now ..."

"Right. You're just staring", Hera says with amusement and watches Dante how he eyes the vehicle. "They both died a natural death. First my dad after I cared for him for three years and then my mom. After my father's death, my mother was no longer willing to live. I guess that's why she followed him quickly." Her mood has decreased in the meanwhile.

"... Then you had quite old parents for your age", Dante notes and looks up to Hera.

His customer must be even a few years younger than himself if the demon hunter is right.

"Yeah ... But let's leave this for now. It's time to start our adventure. You wanna drive? I gonna give you directions ..." Hera jingles seductively with the set of keys.

Immediately, Dante stops eying the car, hurries around the car and snatches the keys out of her hand. Standing next to the hinder vehicle door, the demon hunter jumps over to land skillfully and smoothly on the driver's seat. Enthusiastic and with shining eyes like those of a child he gently strokes the steering wheel to afterwards start the engine.

"But you gonna take me with you in my own car, right?", Hera grins and walks to the passenger door.

"Only if you hurry up. Chop-chop!", He cheers Hera when clapping two times and slams the driver's door.

She gets into the car and closes the door to her right but, unlike Dante, cautiously.

"One more thing: This is my _baby_, so treat it that way. Every dent and scratch will be deducted from your final payment. We don't even want to consider a write-off ..."

"No worries. I can handle such machines. Even though it's a while ago when I last drove a car ..."

After the last words were spoken, Dante goes into reverse and roughly drives the car out of the parking lot.

"Easy!", Hera admonishes the devil hunter.

"Yeah, yeah ..."

"And buckle up before the hell ride!"

Her hint came just in time, only before Dante was about to floor the gas pedal.

He rolls his eyes which wander over to Hera. She, of course being exemplary, has already fastened the safety belt.

"I wouldn't guess you to be such a square ...", Dante sighs for a better expression of his slightly annoyed mood. He does, however, follow her instruction.

There is nothing that could now prevent Dante from flooring the gas pedal and to race towards the main street.

The ride turns out to be very pleasant since the roads are flat and pretty empty. Most of the time, Dante can maintain the speed which he enjoys a lot. He uses winding roads for drifts that make Hera's face tensing up. This facial expression of her makes Dante feel entertained on top. He loves the wind, playing with his silver-white hair, and also the feeling of hovering and absolute freedom.

It seems like the island would be covered in lush meadow completely. This is at least the impression Dante receives. Woods do extend in patches but there are much more fields and open space of grass. The few houses that flits past Dante due to the high speed of the car make him suspect even more that the population on this island must be quite low. As far as Dante can see, all of the buildings look very modern, neat, and clean which might come because of their light painted facades.

"Seems to be pretty lonely here!", Dante finally exclaims with his voice raised in order to drown out the loud noises of locomotion.

"Well, there ain't many rich people on earth! Or they simply don't know about Alba Island or they don't feel invited by this island's emptiness! I like it, though! I couldn't live in an overcrowded city which don't allows you to have space for your own!"

Further moments that Dante uses for speeding pass by when Hera points to a wide and green mountain landscape in the distance. He therefore changes the direction of the vehicle.

They both reach the region faster than expected so that Dante has to drive more cautiously. The roads get narrower and more uneven and the green shows impressive heights. Close to a hill which is still large and steep but not as gigantic as the mountains all around them, Hera asks Dante to stop the car. Wistfully he complies with her request and parks the car on the roadside. Before closing the car top and turning off the engine, he strokes his hand over the steering wheel only to bid farewell to the car. From the edge of his eye he notices Hera's questioning expression, which is dominated by her knitted brows, and finally leaves the car with her. She takes her shoulder bag from the back seat before Dante locks the car.

She immediately hurries over to the large hill which shall be climbed. When she turns around to Dante, she gestures that she wants him to throw over the car keys.

"I need these for the return trip!", He exclaims in refusal.

"Well, I'm not sure if it's good allowing you that!"

"C'mon! It wasn't _that_ bad!"

Ultimately, however, he yields and throw the keys powerfully over to Hera who can catch them with only one hand. She then let them disappear in her shoulder bag.

"Good catch!", Dante comments.

She gives him a self-assured look, then turning back to the mountain. She leans her upper body against it and cautiously tries to climb up with all fours. Dante smiles because of his customer's approach since he knows about his abilities which certainly will make him reach the top of the mountain way easier. As if he had been struck by lightning which energy he was able to absorb, Dante starts sprinting towards and then up the mountain. He tackles the remaining meters by several jumps, performing zigzags, and finally reaches the top of the mountain.

He fills his lungs with cool air which seems to be much cleaner up here and stretches his body delightfully. His gaze wanders through the panorama. A beautiful view, showing an endless mountain landscape. Only a few meters in front of him, the mountain subsides, leaving room for deep and wide water. Down there and in the middle, another mountain protrudes out of the water, its surface being rougher and more edgy in comparison to the surrounding region. In addition, that mountain does not even reach that high, therefore Dante was not able to see that giant during the ride. Even from the distance, he can recognize creatures, that look like eagles but must be demons, flying around the mountain.

"It's gorgeous up here!", Dante says when noticing Hera's audible breathing and finally seeing her climbing up the last few meters.

Reaching the goal, she removes the grass from her clothing.

"So? Is this the right place?", He asks.

She walks over to Dante and places herself next to him while catching her breath. "Yes ... That's the view from my dreams ... And that must be the sought mountain ... if there's an iron gate ... with two hollows, one shaped like a moon and the other like a sun." She points to the mountain in the middle of the water. "That's all I can say."

"Well then, let's go up to that one", Dante says and starts moving.

"This feels like free running! First climbing, then swimming, and then climbing again ..."

Hera's words cause Dante to stop, turn around, and to reply teasingly, "Sorry I left the red carpet at home, _Madame_. If I had it with me, I would've rolled it out for you of course ..."

"Minus 100."

Dante shows a questioning face.

"Your payment has just dropped about 100 dollars. Keep continue saying that kind of stupid shit and if you're a lucky man, you might still have some coins left over in the end."

"Hey, that's unfair! Are you really that sensitive ...?"

"_Sensitive?!_ Minus 100."

Dante crosses his arms and snorts in annoyance.

"Don't forget who plays what role, my friend."

Women and money. That topic again. This makes him call up a déjà vu with Lady.

Turning away from Hera, he let his gaze wander around again, pinching his eyes for a better view. He wants to check if there is a more comfortable way to reach the mountain. Dante is even able to find an alternative.

"Fate wants the best for you. At most slipping down here, but for the rest there is no need for _free running_", Dante says. "You see the path over there?"

The soil in the valley builds a narrow path in one place, linking it with the mountain.

"... And on the mountain itself, there is also a path that leads up", Dante continues when noticing the mountain pass.

A gate like Hera mentioned before could not be seen by the demon hunter yet.

"That's brilliant!", Hera says. "Let's get started!" She approaches the slope.

"How about plus 100 in reward for my good eyes?"

"Uuummm ...", She starts to utter, seemingly thinking about Dante's words for a moment. "Not now." Then she slides down the slope.

"Women ...", He sighs and follows her.

When arriving below, both free their clothes from grass and soil and trudge through the deep, brown ground. Their way to the narrow path is longer than expected. From above, the distance seemed to be much shorter. Bridging the silent, Dante confronts Hera with a topic which has been in his mind since the beginning of the trip to Alba Island:

"Even though my payment will get deducted again, I'm interested in knowing why you traveled all the long way from Alba Island to Fortuna Island only to see Nero. Why do you wanted to talk to him? Did it have something to do with that book?"

"That ain't relevant for the mission and is therefore unimportant to you", Hera answers strictly.

"I see ... Did you meet him at least?"

Her face remains in tense. Telling, that an answer will not be given. It was precisely _this_ severity which Dante could sense as an aura when meeting Hera for the first time.

"Okay ...", Dante snorts but still remains loyal to his constantly relaxed nature. "One last try: Why didn't you tell me about the job when we both met in Fortuna? You've had an extra detour when _sailing_ to me a few days later."

"Are you giving me the third degree or what?"

"Nope, I just like to ask questions when I feel like it. _It costs nothing to ask_, as the saying goes. Actually."

"Yeah, _actually_. That can change very quickly in your case ..."

"Yeah, yeah ... That again ..."

Hera tries to keep her face serious, she, however, struggles with a smile that wants to emerge.

"How come you know Nero anyway?", She finally asks.

_"That ain't relevant for the mission and is therefore unimportant to you"_, Dante parrots Hera.

With that, Hera has to give in to laughter.

Their march felt like an eternity when they finally reach the narrow path and go across it. The flat path starts to get bumpy when coming closer to the mountain. Walking along the mountain pass, take them also quite a while. However, it was worth the long journey since they get a catch sight of a big iron gate which seems to seal a cave.

Dante approaches the locked passageway and let one finger slide over the hollows in the gate.

"Yep. Artifacts in the form of a half moon and a sun could really fit in here", He says.

"So this part of my dream is true then ...", Hera says and rummages for the book in her shoulder bag. "Let's see where the artifacts are supposed to be ... So ... The specific part of the entry goes: _The deep darkness and the aloft light, uniting for the living unicum." _

"Easy", Dante says. "The artifacts are somewhere on top of the mountain and down there. Probably in the water. At least the demons make it pretty clear to identify that something interesting must be up there, if the entry wasn't easy enough to understand anyway."

"Yeah, makes sense. I imagined the riddle being much harder to solve than this ..."

"We'll see if it probably is in the end. Maybe someone just wants to make sure you definitely enter the sanctuary ..."

"You mean, that angel might have a finger in the pie?"

"That's my guess", Dante replies. "Let's check it out."

He moves past Hera and approaches the mountain ledge to get a view up.

"I gonna wait here", Hera says.

"I'm supposed to do the donkeywork. I got it."

"Slowly we begin to get along with each other", She grins.

While looking up, Dante notices an interesting constellation in the sky - the sun as well as the moon can be seen at the same time and symbolically appear greeting, just as it is written in the text passage about the blood angel's sanctuary. He releases from the view, makes a powerful leap with a somersault and lands on a ledge further up to afterwards repeat this type of locomotion until he arrives on the hilltop.

The eagle-like demons are gone, but Dante knows they are lurking for him somewhere. He looks around and cannot see more than stone and detritus. Suddenly, there are noises which could come from crows. Still it is certain for Dante that it is not about ordinary animals but demons. The echoes space out into depth, followed by sounds of powerful wing beats which also appear as echoes.

"C'mon! I don't have all day!", Dante shouts out and the echo of his voice is borne from mountain to mountain.

Then they finally show up - _the eagles of death_. Slowly and elegantly they have risen from the deep and are now beating their wings, hovering in the air. There are eight beings surrounding Dante.

"There you go", Dante says and pulls out his twin pistols.

Their feathering is black and disheveled. The wings of the demons have a considerable span and their wide and curved beaks, colored with dark brown and grey, are far too big for their heads. So are the silver claws for their feet. The rays of the sun shine directly on them which hit Dante's eyes. Each of the demons have just one red eye. The place where the second eye normally would be located, is scarred.

Before Dante can align his guns for a shot in his usual position, the demons strongly flap their wings and rise higher to the air. Above, they circle around their prey.

"You're doing great! I just thought we would be in agreement about starting the fight!", Dante calls upwards and watches the demons fly.

In response to Dante's provocation, they suddenly stop and rush down synchronously and with their beaks ahead. He reacts just in time, puts back his twin pistols and rolls to one side to immediately draw his sword wherewith he bashes his enemies. However, Dante cuts the air only. Quickly, the creatures spread to different directions and prepare themselves for an attack, using joint forces for executing it as a nosedive. This time the demon hunter remains in his position, changes his weapons again, and starts a hail of bullets against the demons. It hits the demons heavily so that they flung through the air due to the high speed of the bullets.

A reinforcing troop already announces its appearance when cawing loudly. It seems to be another eight of the _death eagles_. Those act, in contrast to the first group, asynchronously and every demon of the reinforcements squad tries to hit Dante once. He can dodge any attack. In the meantime, the eight beings from the first round have coordinated again and dash, also united, towards Dante's back, forming a V-shape. Their shadows let the ambush bust. Dante therefore is able to use his sword _Rebellion_, letting it rush to the demons spiritedly. He cuts the lower part of the V-shape and the devilish beings splash to the ground like black spots while the remaining four demons fly past Dante.

Now the newly joined creatures use their claws in an attempt to hurt Dante. Dead loss. He can parry all attacks with his broadsword.

Finally, the 12 remaining demons form and rise again into the air. They stall Dante and fly their rounds.

"That's not gonna help you ...", Dante says to himself and reaches for his guns.

Despite the long-lasting hail of bullets, the beings, however, remain unscathed. Dante uses his environment and throws hand-sized stones towards the creatures. Indeed he hits the mark one time and another, but his attacking method does not turn out to be effective generally. Dante starts his last try to cause damage on the ground when strengthen his stand, bringing his broadsword behind his back, loading it up with the use of his devilish power, therewith making it light up red, and throwing it up in the air with everything he has got.

The sword rotates and cuts two creatures. The red energy is passed to their _colleagues_, hitting the entire swarm enormously. Performing a long arc, the swirling sword returns to its owner.

Once again, he uses the stony battlefield to push himself off a rock, thus bringing himself closer to his returning sword. He catches the weapon and immediately conducts some more blows in the air. This time it is three beings dying when Dante comes back to the ground.

"Looks much better", He says while looking at the left eight beings.

The number they had at the beginning of the fight.

"How's the state up there?!", Dante hears Hera calling upwards to him.

"Fantastic! Things cannot go fast enough for you, huh?!"

"Patience ain't one of my strong points!"

"Same here ...", Dante says to himself and focuses _the eagles of death_.

After another round in which the demons seem to showcase their flying skills to the demon hunter, they lower height and come closer to Dante. Around him they build a circle, never stopping their rapid speed.

Dante watches the performance. He quickly starts to get bored because the demons just do not want to switch into offensive action. So Dante decides to take that for them. To their surprise, he darts towards the creatures to break their circle with his sword. After this kind of foretaste, Dante performs a combination of other sword strokes. Now he pulls out his black pistol to let shoot out bullets as quick as lightning. During this attack, he leaves _Rebellion_ in his right hand. Dante ceases the firepower and makes use of his sword again.

"Now it's your turn, hun", Dante says, throws _Ebony_ in the air, with that hitting a demon, reaches for his white pistol, _Ivory_, which he carries in the holster on his right hip, and starts shooting.

When Dante's black pistol is about to fall down, he throws _Rebellion_ in the air to make his right hand free for _Ebony_. Catching the dark gun, he continues the hail of bullets. However, Dante stops this very fast as he realizes falling down spots from the sky. Looking on the ground and counting, it is eight spots.

"Well? Which of us did the better show?"

He throws _Ebony_ and _Ivory_ in the air again and catches every pistol with the other hand. With putting back the white pistol into the holster of the right side and the black one into the left, his gun system is now well organized again. In the end, he catches the falling down sword.

Dante looks around. Watching for an artifact. He indeed sees something sparkling golden on the ground. He walks towards it and discovers a gleaming golden sun sticking in the ground. Making use of _Rebellion_, he pokes into the stony ground, with that freeing the artifact and takes it. Being satisfied, he lets his sword disappear behind his back and removes the dirt form the golden sun.

The sudden landing of the demon hunter next to Hera makes her startling, "Hey! Are you nuts?!"

"Many people would guess so", Dante replies.

"... You've got it", Hera says grinningly and stares at the artifact in Dante's right hand.

"Of course. The second will follow immediately."

Confidently, the demon hunter walks towards the iron gate and puts in the missing object. It fits perfectly.

"Good", Hera says. "By the way, whom did you talk to up there? To the demons?"

"Yep, increasing the mood. This way, you get the demons going. Have you never done that before? I just assume that you fight regularly against those critters and that you're not carrying those weapons only for decoration purposes ..."

"I'm not a newbie when it comes to fighting, but I've never talked to them before. I don't consider demons being good dialog partners."

"Believe me, they're sometimes even more talkative than humans. The important demons at least, but the rest answers too. Just in their own special way. It's fun, you should try it", Dante says while walking past Hera and takes one last glance at her when reaching the cliff's edge. "Now excuse me please, I gotta go diving."

Dante jumps down the abyss and plunges into the water which makes it splash to all sides. He swims to the depths and along the mountain, always looking for a crescent-shaped artifact. After making his round, which turned out being unsuccessful, he swims upwards to get some fresh air.

Like a sexy merman, he shoots out of the water, throwing his wet hair back, and runs his hands through it once. It is just too bad Hera do not witness that little scenery from Dante since she enjoys the sun with eyes close, sitting on the cliff. Her proud posture she shows when extending the thorax upwards to the sky, resting the weight of her upper body on her hands, makes her look like a mermaid as well, only covered with too much fabric. Dante's imagination, however, provides remedy and so he has to smile contentedly when thinking of a lightly dressed Hera. After leaving his short imaginary journey, he dives deep into the water again.

Now he swims much deeper. The closer he comes to the bottom, the darker it gets and the faster his oxygen reserves decreases. Even if his lung volume is more marked than that of a human, it still does not last forever. Looking around, a silver light hits his eyes. The beam sparkles through algae rooted on the ground. Assuming the shining light to be the second and last artifact which could mean a fight when taking it, Dante swims to the water surface to fill his lungs with oxygen once more. He then returns to the bottom.

Powerfully and swiftly he displaces the water until he arrives at the previous place. He feels his way through the aquatic plants and touches a hard material. When pulling it out it becomes clear that he was right - it is the silvery crescent artifact.

Pushing up from the ground with his feet, he is able to make the distance to the water surface shorter, so coming up there faster than before. Right in the moment when he wonders about the absence of a fight, the object gets snatched out of his hand, therewith he suffers a deep cut on his arm.

"Fuck!", Dante yells. "Not on my watch."

He sinks deeper, hopefully for the last time.

About a dozen muddy green, prickly and one meter long shark-like demons lurk for Dante underneath the water surface. Two pointed teeth protrude from their mouth. The eyes are glassy, appearing the demons being blind. Dante recognizes the thief from the horde who swims into the depths. He follows. All the other creatures cross the demon hunter's way to make fleeing easier for their companion. Dante takes his twin pistols which do fire strongly even underwater. This way, he manages to hurt the disturbing demons and make them move aside to continue chasing the thief. The demons, however, do not accept Dante's approach, so uniting and starting an attack against him. One after another, the demons try to bite him, but Dante dodges with perfectly tuned movements. When a shark-like devil is underneath him, Dante uses the opportunity to pierce and destroy him with _Rebellion_. A demon wants to help his friend, but he is going to suffer the same fate. As black pearls they sink into the deep. Dante do not want to waste any more time with the rest since he finds it more important to get back the artifact.

The demon dives deeper and deeper, wagging his fin slowly and provocatively. Finally, Dante aims his guns at that demon and let him feel its bullets. The creature trembles due to the pain, let the artifact fall and rushes towards Dante. The demon hunter uses his broadsword for further attacks on the demon. Even this devil dissolves as a black, down sinking pearl. Dante swims down quickly and reaches for the artifact which sinks deeper even more. With his increased swimming speed he does not only want to have back the object, but also gain some oxygen.

Another shark-like demon can catch the artifact only a few milliseconds before Dante. The creature flees up to the water surface, contrary to the previous demon who was looking for safety downwards. Protecting their companion, the remaining demons build up a barricade. Being angry and annoyed because of the underwater activity, Dante lets the creatures feel the power of his blade. The devils get thrown around wildly and some even bump against the seabed or the mountain. The tension inside of Dante helps him to make remarkably stronger blows than normally. He takes the rest of the way with directing the sword forward to get rid more easily of the last demon who crosses his path.

The first thing Dante does when reaching the water surface is filling his lungs with fresh air. He is observed by one demon who has got to the water surface earlier. This demons seems to cheekily wait for an reaction of Dante.

"You're little time out is over, Hera!", Dante exclaims irritably, therewith getting Hera's attention. "Show me how much you wanna have solved the puzzle and blow those shit away! I don't wanna use my devil power only for them!"

"Now, now! Who's gettin' cranky down there? Don't you like battles in the water?!", Hera replies, grinning mischievously, and remains in her relaxed position a second more as she finally gets up.

"Not really!"

"I don't wanna be awkward then!", She replies, pulls out her rifle and shoots at the demon.

The bullet takes the devil with itself underneath the water surface, luckily without the artifact. Hera's attack was much too surprising for the demon so that he lost the item from his mouth and Dante saved it from sinking down in the right time.

Dante swims closer to the mountain and pulls himself up. Meanwhile, the remaining demons emerge from the water and want to retaliate against Dante. Hera, however, opens fire and supports him. Hanging on the mountain, he uses his left hand to put the lower tip of the crescent into his pants since he do not want to lose the artifact again. The creatures try to escape Hera's bullets and to snatch at Dante but any intensions fail and make them only move further away from their target. Some demons do not even show up on the water surface anymore. Either because they have given up or they have been erased.

He pushes himself from the mountain and with that he gets higher. The jump also distances him a bit from the mountain so that he can defy gravity and use his legs to run upward the edgy mountain face - a maximum physical performance that a human never would be able to accomplish. Shortly before reaching the ledge from which he had jumped into the water, he pushes himself off the rock again, makes a flip in the air, and lands, his body masterfully controlled, on the cliff. A good feeling to have solid ground under the feet.

Hera has stopped shooting and put back her gun already. With crossed arms and an amused expression on her face, she steps towards the demon hunter who is wet through.

"Wasn't that bad in the end ...", She finally says.

"Nope ...", Dante replies and imitates a grin. "I always wanted to try aquacade someday."

Hera's amusement intensifies after Dante's statement. She steals the crescent from his pants and heads to the locked gate to insert the last missing artifact. The iron gate quakes and the two doors open inwards slowly.

Parallel to this, the automatic healing process of Dante sets in, making the cut on his arm disappear. Another extraordinary skill he has as a demonic being, even if he is a demon only halfway.

"Lady's first", Dante says and lifts up his right arm, inviting her to enter the cave first.

She stands riveted to the spot. An exhalation decreases tension inside of her so that she can finally step through the open gate.

Only daylight from outside brightens the rocky corridor a bit. After a curve, there is another to follow and so do Hera and Dante make their way down, deeper into the ever darkening cave. The darkness starts to subside after a while due to flames of torches which are attached to the walls. A few more meters of going deeper, the duo get to see a mystical place. There is a platform on the ground, built with mosaics in various shades of brown. Being close to it, Dante cannot identify if it shall illustrate an accurate picture. The cave wall has changed into smooth and red-brown bricks. In addition to the torches on the walls, there are four other torches standing in the corners of the room. In the wall in front of them is integrated a huge stone tablet; on there being engraved a copy of the blood angel which drawing is to find in the red book. Except that this representation looks more mystical and fascinating than in the book due to its size. Dante watches Hera examining the room what makes him smile. He has seen countless mysterious places in his life so that this one does not even impress him minimally.

Suddenly, a big shadow spreads behind them. They turn around and get to see a statue as if it had been brought to life from the ancient mythology. The figure is about two meters tall, armed with a lance, and has black wings. It uses the lance like a walking stick and takes a few steps forward. The sounding noise of the tapping lance echoes throughout the room as well as the words the figure speaks:

"You followed my call." The voice of the figure is deep, yet it sounds pleasant. "As I can see, you brought a companion with you. A Son of Sparda."

The living statue switches its focus to Dante who only reacts with raising an eyebrow.

"The sinful angel. So you really exist. I'm not dreaming this time", Hera says, giving an impression of being cautious when her body stats to stiffen. "What do you want from me and what's all the hullabaloo about?"

"I want to show you who you really are."

"You think I'm the blood angel, but you're wrong. That's just impossible. Tell me what makes you think that?"

Wordlessly, the black-winged angel raises his lance and throws it powerfully at the wall to the left of the stone tablet. A crack forms over the entire wall and as the lance falls down together with the bricks, the creature retrieves its weapon with a suction. Afterwards, the angel disappears. It only leaves behind some black feathers of its wings that glide gently to the ground.

"Hey!", Hera shouts out.

"What the hell was that?", Dante says, feeling good entertained, as a few seconds have passed by and as it gets clear the figure will not come back.

Hera sighs, trying to handle the moment somehow.

"Something to read again", Dante says. He has gone to the destroyed place in the meanwhile, recognizing a smooth wall of rock, which has got freed, with engraved tidings on it.

This gets Hera's attention and she places herself next to Dante.

"The upper text is uninteresting, it's the same from the book, but the lower one is new", He explains, pointing to the meant paragraph:

_"To fulfill the destiny as it has been imposed on the blood angel, she has to complete power, given by her tool, saved behind water in the south. Unification with the blade of souls will make her ruling over those who are lost." _

"So this is that _blade of souls_ which the blood angel holds in her left hand from the book's drawing." It is Dante speaking again.

Hera sighs for a second time and she places her hands on her waist. "Now we have to travel _somewhere else_. I thought everything would be cleared up _here_."

"He knows how to make things more exciting. You've got to hand it to him."

"Yeah, but I have zero interest in that. Okay, so ...", Hera says and exhales audibly which shall help her calming down her restless mind. "... _saved behind water in the south_. Where can that be?" She puts her head back and closes her eyes.

"A waterfall in the south. Probably also on Alba Island. Have you seen something like that in your dreams maybe?"

"No ...", She answers thoughtfully and opens her eyes. "But still we gonna find it ... Maybe it's _that_ one ..."

"How many waterfalls are there? Do you know that?"

"I'm no tourist information. Let's just try with that one I have in my mind. If that angel has been haunting me for a longer time now and wants me to solve the puzzle, then that blade should be at a place I know, right?"

"Sounds plausible."

"... When I went fishing with my dad, we often used the boat to ship around the whole island. At the edge on the island, in the south, we always had to be very careful 'cuz of the strong current and the waterfall. It was really heavy ... We go there."

"Alright, let's do it!"

Hera and Dante leave the deep sanctuary. Their view gets better due to the daylight. At first, however, the brightness blinds their eyes and it needs a short while for them to get used to it. On top of that, breathing is much easier here.

Celebrating his joy of the left behind dark and stifling grotto, Dante steps forward to the ledge and stretches his body up to the sky. He also turns his face to the sun with his eyes closed and takes a deep breath in. He hears the water whipping against the mountain several times. Being skeptical about the going wild water, he lowers his heels and arms, opens his eyes and looks downwards.

"I do understand you like it there but I thought we wanted to go now?", Hera calls to him from a distance, walking down the mountain pass.

"We gonna stay here a bit longer! The dude down there seems to have organized a little splashing party for us!"

A figure raises from the water. It has the same appearance as those of the shark-like beings - only that this one is oversized.

"Oh shit!", She utters and rushes to the demon hunter.

"Among those demons you've fought against so far, were there even some bulky or just small ones?"

"Only small ones."

"Well, then we have the best opportunity for practice, my little blood angel."

"Shut up!"

The demon raises its huge caudal fin and hits the mountain that starts vibrating. Dante proves his good balance skills and Hera is also able to withstand the quake by crouching.

"What do you think if I tire out that little dude and you take over the rest?", He asks when tremor gradually subsides.

"No good idea."

"Okey-dokey!"

Dante fetches _Rebellion_, jumps into the deep with tightly bent legs and lands on the being's back. With that he has shown a perfect sense of proportion since he did not land on the long spines which spread endlessly all over the demon's back. On the standing spot, he bores his weapon into the flesh. The demon utters a deafening sound out of pain. If one did not better know, one might think it have had come from a whale.

His sword sticks deeply. He has to jiggle to get it out. The creature shakes his body in an attempt to get rid of the devil hunter. Dante, however, moves away by his own choice with making a flip in the air to now stand on the earthy path that forms the connection to the mountainous region farther back and the mountain in the middle of the water that he has just explored together with Hera.

He turns around to the demon whose mouth is not far away from Dante due to its immense height and hits him frontally. Again the devil cries out, but immediately starts a counterattack, letting his gigantic mouth, from which two mighty teeth stick out, snap at Dante. His height may be impressing and himself may be robust but still the demon is not the fastest. So Dante has enough time to escape the attack with another acrobatics in the air. The demon cannot pull his body back in time, causing his teeth to push through the ground, biting off a part of the way. He spits out the earth, moistened by his saliva, to the side.

The big clump flies directly to Hera. However, she can dodge by running down the mountain pass. The demon's slow movements have offered Dante another opportunity for an attack that he devotes the devil's back. This time the demon uses his fin to sweep the devil hunter off his feet. Instead of hurting Dante, the creature injures himself since his fin falls on his own spines. Apparently, the demon has a lack of intelligence as well.

Dante has saved himself into altitude and sinks deeper now, landing on the impaled fin which he attacks immediately even though his stand is unstable due to the uneven ground underneath his boots. Finally, the demon can free himself from predicament and detach his fin from the spines. He plunges it into the water powerfully, causing a big wave. Dante do not has to worry about it since he has fled through the air and over to the other side of the mountainous region. He sees the enormous wave passing him by. It is no harm to Hera either.

The young woman has left the mountain behind and reached the soil in the meantime. Dante observes how she gets ready for shooting as she takes her rifle and shouts out to her, "The stage is yours now! Enjoy and have fun!"

"I will!", Hera replies and uses firepower when standing closer to the demon.

It is only a few shots the demon accepts bearing on him. He throws his massive body towards Hera. She starts running, thus having more distance to the mountain she just came from. When landing, the demon hits the stony giant, making it shake so that a few little boulders dissolve and fall down into the water. Apart from that, the mountain remains wholly. Succeeded bringing herself to safety, she takes off her bag, throwing it to Dante while shouting out, "Here, hold it for a moment!" She has no need for unnecessary ballast during the fight. Switching her weapons, she seems wanting to back herself with a dagger.

_ "She doesn't really want to kill that thing with a dagger?"_, Dante questions himself in his mind, holding her shoulder bag in his hands. He just wants to make his hands free for his sword just in case he has to intervene when seeing Hera developing her dagger into a lance. This has been accomplished by making a quick blow in the air so that the sharp edges on both sides extend as long as the weapon finally corresponds to the length of a lance.

Hera treats the demon with subtle strokes and cuts. The devil wants to flee back into the water but he simply cannot since he has got stuck in the bumps of the lower rock layer. With that, he is at the momentary mercy of Hera.

Being satisfied, Dante puts away his weapon, crosses his arms, and continues watching the rival's presentation.

Finally, the demon lunges his fin and with the use of momentum he can free himself, jumping to the other side of the way. Hera was getting herself out of the demon's trajectory by stepping backwards and with dropping herself to the floor she was also able to escape the wave that was caused by the heavy plunge. If she had not done so, the wave might had dropped her into the water what, most likely, would have had made her losing control of her actions due to the strong current underwater.

All of a sudden the devil shoots out of the water, hovering like a dolphin in the air for a short time, but not as elegant as such a mammal actually would do, and plunge back into the water. Hera remains on the ground. The demon takes another leap, coming from the water, this time, however, approaching the mountainous region to finally land on the earthy crossing and to drag a part of that under. Now the way between Dante and Hera is severed and she gets stuck.

The creature returns to the water surface and widens his mouth towards Hera.

"Feeding time, _Sharky_!", Hera roars as she uses the opened mouth to drill her lance deep into the creature's lower jaw.

Thus the demon fails devouring Hera, but he is also not able to close his mouth. The weapon is too sturdy for flexing it even slightly. Biting vigorously with all his pressure does not help him either. Conversely, it gets even more worse for the demon since the pointed ends of the weapon penetrate deeper and deeper into his lower, and even now, his upper jaw.

Hera takes out her rifle, aiming into the monster's throat. These shots are particularly painful for the demon, hearable due to the loud noise he utters. If his mouth would not be fixed with Hera's lance, the sound of his scream probably had been much louder. Her firepower lasts. Still not being able to crunch Hera's lance, he flings his mouth back and forth wildly, hopefully to get rid of this weapon somehow. This makes it difficult for Hera aiming into the creature's throat.

The demon plans sweeping Her off the surface with his head, therefore dropping Hera into the water, but Hera can assess the situation correctly. She jumps back and bends her upper body forward. While doing so, she places her body in a way where she is in line with the opened mouth of the demon, so that the lace is her only obstacle. The demon's head comes closer and she grabs her weapon with both hands.

Having brought the skull far to the other side, the demon also has taken Hera with him. When the creature has exhausted his short neck's agility completely, Hera lets her body become heavier, braces her footwear on the gill of the creature, therewith forming a bridge with her body, and rips her lance out of the demon's mouth with all of her concentrated power. With the removal of the clamp, as Hera's weapon has been such for the demon, a thick piece of flesh from the demon's upper and lower jaw fall into the water, together with lots of blood splatter. Hera does not hesitate and rams her lance into the gills of the creature. On the one hand for having a better hold but also to weaken the demon. Since the gills is a breathing organ for marine animals, Hera assumes that this is also the case with this demon so that an injury on that organ should cause significant restrictions for him. It turns out that she is right. The demon comes to a halt and yelps again. After a deafening sound, the demon's body tension dissolves and he tips over into the water.

Hera does not want to let go of her chance to hurt the creature as much as possible so that she rams her lance several times into his gills violently. Even when the demon is motionless, it does not necessarily mean that he is dead.

As the creature hits the water surface, meter-high waves rise from all sides, making both, the demon and Hera, disappear from Dante's field of vision. The blue giants clash and rush back down into the element they have arisen from. On the water surface is nothing und nobody to see anymore.

Dante is not sure if he shall intervene. However, when Hera does not show up after a few seconds, the demon hunter throws Hera's shoulder bag to the ground and sprints towards the water. Arriving at the edge of the waterside and just about to make himself ready for a jump in, Hera's head shoots out of the water. Her necessity-driven breathing is as audible as if she were close to Dante although she is far away from him. The demon hunter slows down and lowers his arms, which he had brought up for a jump, back to the body. Hera looks around wildly, probably trying to regain her orientation. When locating him, she swims to the watersides direction.

"Nice show!", Dante calls out to her.

"I hope you felt well entertained!"

"Yeah, it was interesting!", He replies. "But I think you should step on it. _Sharky_ doesn't seem to be done with you yet!"

Dante has noticed shadows becoming darker in the water.

Hera increases her pace. The gigantic creature storms out of the lake, opening his mouth widely towards Hera. She can make it onshore in time and Dante stops the demon with his sword, stabbing it between his eyes after making a big jump. The miserable sound of the demon bangs in Dante's ears. Balancing on the muzzle's upper side, he pulls back his sword at one go, making the demon moan again, and jumps back to the ground. The stiffened creature gradually sinks into the depths of water which has start seething and afterwards getting calmer.

"Now I know what you mean, by the way. The demons really do answer ... and this one apparently wanted to tell me that he doesn't like his nickname", Hera says, standing up from the floor.

"Seemed so. But honestly. Wasn't it thrillin'?"

"It wasn't bad during the fight. I could've forgo the little chasing scene in the end, though ..."

Dante grins and puts away his broadsword.

"Have you ever caught such a big one when you went fishing with your dad?"

"No", Hera laughs. "If we had caught that one, we could've bought up the entire island. But I don't think that he would've been tasty ..."

The devil hunter hands the bag to Hera which she puts over her shoulder right away.

"What's that kinda thing anyway?"

He points at Hera's weapon she had converted from a dagger into a lance during the fight, now carrying it in the leather strap of the rifle holster as a small format.

"Cool, isn't it? I built that piece of work together with my dad."

She pulls out the dagger and performs the movement once again. The weapon reacts in accordance with the movement and let both sides extend to a lance automatically. The hilt of the weapon is silver and could be made of chrome. It gives the appearance as if several pieces would interlock. It is unclear to Dante how that mechanism can get activated if this weapon really should be made of hard metal. Even a forceful and energetic movement would not work in this case. He can neither recognize a trigger nor a button or anything like that. On top of that the tremendous stability of the weapon is extremely remarkable. Normally, the demon should have had destroyed the weapon with its enormous bite force if this weapon really was man-made. Curious as he is, he digs deeper and gets the answer, _explaining everything_, "It's magic."

She executes another strike and the weapon shrinks to a dagger, the optimal size for Hera to put it away.

"It's a family secret", She continues. "Only that much: We fiddled around a lot ... But hey, let's move on. We got a lot to do."

Hera does her hair roughly and picks at her soaked clothes when finally passing Dante.


	7. Mission 7 - An Angel's Burden

**Mission 7**

_An Angel's Burden_

* * *

Dante is allowed to take this ride as well while Hera describes the way to the waterfall which she suspects to be the whereabouts of the _Blade of Souls_. This journey is time-consuming too, but it does not bother the demon hunter at all. He enjoys the drive.

Arriving at the edge of the island, Dante steers the vehicle from the road into the green, according Hera's instructions. It is about to go steadily uphill. However, the ridge is not too steep, making it easy for Dante to get the car up. There are also no trees or shrubs that get in his way. Eventually, Dante has to stop the car to master the rest of the cliff together with Hera by foot.

A huge and wild ocean opens up before their eyes. The waves slosh strongly against the rock below. This time, however, it is not a demon that makes the water choppy; it is only natural spectacle. The sun is about to say goodbye, but still giving both some daylight.

Hera bends her upper body over to the edge of the cliff, and Dante imitates her movement; thus getting recognizable a waterfall that is flowing out of the rock. The sound of the waterfall, which he has already noticed when approaching the cliff's edge, is more audible now.

"Well, let's check if that sword's behind", Dante says.

"I gonna stay up here ..."

"Huh? You don't wanna come with me?"

"I'd love to, but I simply can't since I don't have wings like the Blood Angel."

From Hera's reaction, Dante can clarify that she still does not want to follow the theory of being that special species in any way. He still feels entertained by the story of the _Blood Angel_, even though it has a bitter taste somehow.

Since the _Blood Angel's_ _Sanctuary_ is for real, it is not that absurd that the _Blood Angel_ is really existing. There is only the question left if there is a connection to Hera. Should the entries be a tamper, which might be possible, it is still unlikely the place to be a mystification. _The Sacred Site of the Blood Angel_ must be existing since the beginning of time. Assuming that the _False Angel_, who is no longer pure imagination or reverie, would want to fool Hera; he then would have had to build such a place like that. Can all this really be just a trick?

"Well, this is no problem at all", The demon hunter says after his streams of thoughts gradually subside, grabs Hera below her knees with the right hand and supports her back with the other to carry her over the threshold.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Dante remains silent. He guesses the action, that is going to take by him, as being the perfect answer for her.

He jumps into the depths. Arriving about at the height of the waterfall, Dante pushes himself off in the air, whereupon a kind of mystical and reddish seal appears, marking the point of his jump. Dante dashes through the air and with that through the cave's entrance, spinning his body slightly at the same time. He makes another leap in the air, therewith making the symbol reappear, and lands with both feet in the lateral and dry area of the cave.

The middle area of the cave floor is flooded by water, flowing down the rock from the back of the cave to finally bubble out of the cave's exit, merging with the ocean.

Dante sets Hera down. The release of adrenaline in her body must be in full swing, judging from her face's expression.

"So you have also found this place." The black-winged, mystical creature emerges from the shadows on the other side.

"That's how it goes. And now it's time for the truth", Hera replies, appearing much more relaxed and resolute than at the first encounter with the enigmatic being.

"My name is _Savo_", The creature starts to answer. "As mentioned at the Sanctuary of the Blood Angel, I want to show you the power that lies within you and to help you unleashing it. Furthermore, you should also know your true origin. Your past is filled with so much lies, Hera."

"Is that so? Then just go ahead and explain the whole story to me. Above all, stop gibbering and come right to the point. And don't forget proofing your assertions."

"You _are_ the Blood Angel. The daughter of the Sinful Angel. _My daughter_. Take the Blade of Souls and I will show you. That will be enough proof for you."

Savo points to the right where the water flows down from the cave ceiling. Looking closer, it is to recognize a short sword that is covered with a thick ice plate.

Hera's gaze freezes there as if the cold of the ice could reach over to her. She then releases and turns her gaze to Savo, showing her inner suspiciousness.

"If you should not be the Blood Angel and therefore not my daughter, Soul will reject you. It accepts the chosen bearer only", Savo continues.

"What happens if someone other tries to take the sword?", Dante introduces himself into the conversation.

"Nothing. The ice will not dissolve. Once the sword is released from the ice and connected to the Blood Angel, it inflicts terrible pain on unauthorized persons."

"That means if I just go over and ...", Dante starts to say and moves relaxed to the ice-covered sword when he quickly pulls out _Rebellion_ and beats the ice with combined strength.

He cuts the water, but the sword bounces off the ice and because of Dante's concentrated power for the executed blow, he staggers back a few steps. Finally, he puts himself into the devil mode and tries it one more time immediately. Again he fails. After that, Dante shows his human version.

"So it really doesn't like me."

"As I said, the sword accepts the chosen one only."

"And it shall work when _I_ hit it, or what? Also with something like this?", Hera says and fetches her melee weapon which she makes extending to a lance with a strike to the side.

Only communicating with gestures, Savo encourages her for a try.

Dante moves away from the appropriate location, making room for a ranged attack by Hera which she executes right away. The lance races straight to the ice and sticks in it. The water, flowing over the ice, disappears as the entire waterfall finally dissolves. She approaches the icy slab in the cave wall and pulls out her weapon. This leaves a crack in the ice. Hesitating shortly at first, she continues her offensive line with switching to the rear tip of the lance and executing a transversal blow, eliciting another cut. She furiously stings into the frozen pane several times until ever-growing cracks are forming that finally seize the ice completely and make it burst into multiple shards.

Before Hera stores her weapon and grasps for the sword revealing to her, she breathes a few times for calming down her temper. Meanwhile, she looks at the weapon. The blade of the short sword is reminiscent of a crystal. Also the hilt is glassy, so that the sword as its whole makes a noble and special impression.

When touching the sword and bringing it closer to her, it lights up white. The sword's glow gets brighter and bigger, surrounding her after a while. It is so intense that Dante has to protect his vision with his left forearm. From one second to the next, a painful scream sounds from Hera. However, her crying only lasts briefly and the aggressive light settles. Sitting on the ground and on her legs, Hera wrestles for strength and a steady breathing. She supports herself with her left hand; the right one is holding the sword convulsively.

Dante approaches her, bends down and puts his left hand on her right shoulder. "All better now?"

She nods, still seeming dazed, though.

"Was that the transformation to the Blood Angel?", Dante asks, looking to Savo.

Dante himself knows the procedure of unfolding superhuman power inside. He felt it as a young adult. The whole body hurts terribly. The feeling afterwards, however, is indescribable. That is the way how a rebirth must feel like, if something like that ever could be possible.

"No, not yet. But it was an important part to let the transformation happen", Savo replies to Dante and switches his attention to Hera. "The sword is now united with you. From now on it will be your faithful companion and servant. It gives you the power to catch doomed souls of all the beings who once were alive, and to control them. Doomed souls are those who leave their bodies and fully accept their shell's death. Such souls are even first getting visible through the Blade of Souls. However, to use that ability, you had to sacrifice _your soul_ first, enclosing it in the sword. _That_ was the pain you have felt."

Out of the corner of his eye, Dante realizes a figure, appearing on the sword. He gives the _Blade of Souls_ some more attention and recognizes the figure to be Hera's reflection that vanishes after a short while.

"Take good care of the sword. Its destruction signifies that all souls are going to fade, including yours. The only thing remaining would be your flesh; without any hint of inner life."

"Are you fucking serious?!" Hera has regained her fully consciousness and stands up together with Dante. "Of course you kept that information for yourself because who would've liked taking that sword when knowing all that?! I don't give a shit about all the features when my life depends on it!"

"You need the sword to fulfill your destiny as the Blood Angel and to acquire perfect power. If you do justice to your task, Soul will set you free."

"And when do I finally get those nice wings as pictured in the book or in the Sanctuary?! You better don't fuck with me! I have no idea about your true intention, but I'll find out. If necessary, I beat it out of you!"

Savo summons a lance whose tip he thrusts against the hard ground. "Then let us start the fight."

"With pleasure ..."

"... And I play judges", Dante says and leans against the cave wall. "Even though I'd like to -"

Savo rises into the air and storms ahead with the lance. It was the promptly initiation of Savo starting the fight which made Dante hush.

Hera scurries to the side quickly, thus freeing the view for Dante. The _Sinful Angel_ storms straight at the descendant of Sparda. His lance bounces off Dante's broadsword which the demon hunter had pulled out for his protection.

"Am I invited yet?", Dante grins at Savo.

"I just wanted to test the level of your awareness", He replies. "It seems to be very high. Praiseworthy."

The _angel_ moves away from Dante, whirls around his weapon and attacks Hera who can retaliate with evasive maneuver and her _Blade of Souls_.

Dante sighs while viewing the power struggle between Hera and Savo. He puts away his weapon since it seems like he is not going to need it in the near future. Too bad this fight is not granted to him.

Hera counteracts the last assault of Savo by turning on her own axis elegantly and with that using momentum to ram her sword into Savo's stony upper arm sideways.

"Good", Savo replies only.

He steps back and releases his arm with a quick movement from the point of the sword. This makes Hera getting jerked to Savo. He wipes his lance just above the ground, wanting to bring Hera down, but she is aware of his attack in time and throws her legs in the air. Still being up, she places _Soul_ behind her head to let it rush on Savo. This time her attack is not crowned with success. He presses his hand against her belly and with force she is being pushed against the wall where the _Blade of Souls_ was iced a few moments ago.

A painful sound echoes from her as her back feels the remaining sharp ice. Then she plops on the ground and the ice shards, cutting her hand when getting up for another attack. While still running, she places her injured hand on the sword-wielding one to have more power for hitting Savo. The _Sinful Angel_, however, can escape by ramming his lance into the ground and grasping the stem of his weapon to move his body upwards. When Hera cuts the air, she again gets pushed away by Savo. This time he presses his hand against her back, making her stumble forward even more by a blow with the blunt end of his lance. About a meter from the cave exit, she can regain control of her body and prevents herself from falling down into deep water.

When she turns around, Savo swiftly flies towards her. Hera jumps up, pierces her sword into the cave ceiling, makes her legs as well as the rest of her body come closer to the rock too, so that she literally sticks up there, and can flee Savo's attack this way. He scurries past her and out of the cave, performing a wide arc in the air to finally fly back into the cave. Hera shifts her weight downwards, pulls the sword out of the ceiling violently and comes down to the ground; her hands protecting her from another strong impact on her back. Being in a rage, she throws _Soul_ at Savo and uses her rifle to let follow some shots.

Savo can block the sword with his lance, making _Soul_ poke into the cave wall, but he gets hit by the shots. Hera uses the time in which Savo has to endure the pain from the bullets and rushes to him; her old weapon already extended to a lance. When being close to him, she makes a big jump - to his surprise - and rams her weapon deeply into Savo's chest - the region of the heart.

His body sinks, with the left knee ahead, weakly to the ground. He can barely rest on his right foot, and it seems as if he would make a curtsey in front of Hera.

"I don't need neither _Blood Angel skills_ nor that _Blade of Souls_ to defeat my enemies", Hera says in a clear tone and with a proud posture, looking down to Savo.

"They have taught you a lot ... I have to give them their due." Savo breathes heavily and speaks more slowly than he usually does anyway.

"They?"

"Your adoptive parents."

Hera remains silent.

"But in the end, they were only humans, thus limited in their abilities and strengths. Nonetheless boastful ... the very last fact applies to you as well."

Savo quickly moves upwards, pulls out the lance out of his chest and breaks it in half. Then he throws the components aside, which makes them break into more pieces, grabs Hera by the throat, and let her hover over the ground. He pulls his arm closer to himself, with that bringing Hera closer too, looks into her eyes for a very short moment as he builds up momentum and throws her straight out of the cave.

Dante hurries to her rescue. A sudden bright light makes him coming to a stop promptly. When the light gradually subsides, he can hear wing beats. Moreover, he can feel the presence of a supernatural being whose race he is not able to classify. He steps aside and, without further ado, that figure dashes past him.

"Well, I'll be damned ...", Dante says and shakes his head.

Hovering in the air, the being shows its unequal wings. The right one is black and pointed while the left one is white and roundish. A being who has been questionable in existence - the _Blood Angel_.

As if she would wear a mask, that smooth and soft are the contours of her face now; her facial expression seemingly petrified. Her eyes sparkle golden. The skin is pale and thin, making her veins, also being golden, protrude. Even her hair color has changed; turned from brown into black and her previous braid hair are open now. Miscellaneous blood-red symbols are attached to her body; only the upper body and her legs are protected by a white, figure-accentuating armor. Her fingernails have become black claws.

"Any doubt based on the Blood Angel's existence should now have been terminated ...", Savo says and his expression, all the time believed to be frozen, changes into a joyous one, also filled with pride.

His attention is fully devoted to his daughter. He hides the wound, inflicted by her, with his hand. Only his deep breaths indicate his poor health.

The _Blood Angel_ frees _Soul_ from being stuck in the cave wall by the use of undertow, letting it hover through the air and into her hand. Afterwards Hera flaps her wings and nosedives down to Savo.

As if she had never hurt him, Savo's chest does no longer show any injury when he releases his hand from his upper body to raise into the air as well.

To consider the fight, Dante has to wander his head and eyes around wildly. Both opponents have an immense speed for hunting each other, and they use any corner of the cave. Their weapons clang heavily when smashing-up and they perform acrobatic figures for dodging. This scene continues on for quite a while, making Dante moving his head down to the ground since his neck starts to get stiff from looking up all the time; giving his neck a break. He gets more and more impatient on top of that. He is not used to only playing a passive role in battles.

_ How long will it take for her to frazzle him out? _

As if _something_ or _someone_ have heard his thoughts, the fight starts to get more exciting since the battle turns, unfortunately, for Savo's benefits. The guise for being the _Blood Angel_ disappears, leaving her exhausted and in her true version. Still she can dodge or block Savo's attacks, but this happens extremely sluggish. She even remains in her passive activity only; not being able to execute active ones. The use of superhuman power has weakened her considerably. Eventually, she is forced to give in when Savo makes use of his body instead of his weapon after some time to kick her and with that sweeping her off her feet.

"You fought remarkably well, but still you were not able to defeat me", Savo says after positioning his lance underneath Hera's lower jaw, symbolizing his victory. "I am not surprised by that since you do not have enough practice to use your power optimally."

"But I'm not done with you yet. I really liked seeing you wounded. This time my weapon will go all through your body."

With that said, she kicks against Savo's lower abdomen and pushes him away. She uses the few seconds of rest to visibly mobilize her strengths, afterwards activating her _Blood Angel_ form.

Hera raises into the air, and Savo does also. This time it is not his body she has targeted for further hits, but rather his wings. She uses every opportunity for attacking in devious manner. Savo has to do vastly bodywork to protect his wings. However, he does not succeed with this that well and they have to suffer damage. To allow his wings a little regeneration time, he has to descent to the ground inevitably.

As long as Hera can still hold her supernatural form, she assails from above. Now it is Savo who seems to get weaker since he has problems to keep up with her pace of fighting. Hera's figure of the _Blood Angel_ dissolves once more.

In spite of this, she remains active, ramming her left shoulder against Savo, making him stumble backwards, and bores _Soul_ into his belly. The weapon sinks to the stop of the hilt in his body's core. Savo staggers backwards even more and Hera's hand slips off the hilt of her blade. He crashes against the cave wall on which place _Soul_ was once stored and where he let Hera fall back.

He weakly sinks down the icy wall and to the ground, landing on the shards. Hera has to sink down as well. She pants because of her exhaustion and beads of sweat run down her forehead.

The cave ceiling gets wet again. A tiny little rivulet starts to flow down, trickling on Savo's head. This may be the sign that the then flowing waterfall is going to reestablish. Savo pushes his body aside and Hera tries to get herself out of the water's pathway also to not getting washed away by it. Her entire body, however, gives way when wanting to stand up.

"Let's help the old lady to get to the other side then", Dante jokes when walking to Hera, supporting her by putting her left arm around his right shoulder to finally make her come closer to the left side, and with that to the dry area of the cave.

The water shoots out from the top promptly, therewith reestablishing the waterfall.

Hera leans against the cave wall to then let her body sink down carefully.

Savo's abdominal wall raises and lowers quickly; with that the sword that still sticks in his body's core. After some more breaths, he puts his hand on the hilt and pulls the _Blade of Souls_ out of his body with a jerk, making him groaning with pain. He cautiously lets the sword slide across the floor which stops near Hera. She, however, does not show any interest for that weapon since she is too busy with breathing.

"Ultimately, you did defeat me", Savo says and places his right hand on the deep hole in his abdominal region, resulting from Hera's attack. "Guided by strength, but also by anger ... Was it the truth that made you becoming so furious and which you now have to acknowledge. Probably the destruction of your previous _temporary weapon_, that was more reminiscent of a toy than a real weapon anyway, triggered your anger additionally."

Hera still focuses on regulating her breath rhythm.

"_The winner takes it all_, and with that he deserves answers. So come out with all the details!", Dante says, standing next to Hera and leaning against the cave wall. Being much more relaxed than Hera is in the current situation.

"... Let me start at the very beginning. At the beginning of everything", Savo introduces his narrative. "More than 2,000 years ago when the humans were tormented by the demons and the original home of all the beings were merged into just one, there was another world existing that flowed right in - the _Empire of the Gods_. Angels and demons fought inexorably against each other. The mortals were always in the main focus. It was an angel's duty to deliver them from the demons' enslavement. For millennia, the powers of both sides were balanced, but with Mundus as the ruler of the demons, the law of life lost its stability, having disequilibrium until now. The dark side became stronger and was about to destroy us angels completely. We would have needed a strong leader as well to join our forces, but because of our credo it was condemned to follow such one. The ever-present battle between good and evil had changed. I could not watch my brothers and sisters die; I had to protect them from the dark. I succeeded in separating and closing the Empire of the Gods from the other worlds by using Soul, the sword that is now under your guidance, Hera. The angels had been brought to safety with this, however, no one of them was able to fulfill their duty, warranting freedom and shelter to the humans. This led to a sin they were committing automatically and wherefore they had to do penance, after all weighting on my shoulders since I was the primary sinner. So I was exhorted by them to open the gate to the human world again. I did as required and the expected event happened: All of the angels fell victim to the demons, but me. I had become the Sinful Angel, distinguished by the black wings I wear to this day. Although I did not have a home, this transformation saved my life because with that the demons were not able to feel my divine existence and purity; I simply did not have anything of that sort. The demons did not attack me in the first place. The only intension I ever wanted to achieve was to save my brothers and sisters from death! They had a much greater significance for me than those ... human beings ... After any sacred presence had been extinguished, the Empire of the Gods closed; this time completely automatically. That is what happens when all the beings, belonging to a specific world, get destroyed. It is for the birth of new creatures; only that separated worlds do not automatically open again. Incidentally, this process would also take place on the demons' side if all of those were eliminated. Nevertheless, superior and inscrutable providences were kind to the humans when a demon named Sparda rose against his own race, giving peace and redemption to the mortals. I would never have wanted to end their misery. Not for that great tribute that was demanded in the end."

"Why make things easy ...?", Dante says, commenting on Savo's complicated expression which might be even normal for such a historical being. "But effectively it means that the _Empire of the Gods_ is still existing?"

"Of course it does still exist! The good and evil will always exist. Due to the new era, innumerable angels must have been born into their world since then ..."

"Let's talk about the Blood Angel -", Dante pauses before continuing because from the corner of his eye, he can recognize Hera who turns away her head and closes her eyes as if she would like to move away from the fact that she does carry that kind of species inside of her. "You seem to be very familiar with that topic. One could easily think that you have immortalized yourself in the book as well ..."

"It is true that I wrote certain entries in there, but only those who are written in the language of the humans. I only translated the prophecies that are relevant to the Blood Angel so that she would be able to read them one day. The residual entries are extraneous."

"Do you know who wrote the texts originally?"

"They shall originate from a demon who were able to foresee the future."

"Foresee the future? A demon?"

"I am realizing just now how much knowledge about all the worlds and its creatures has been kept in refuse to you, Son of Sparda", Savo answers. "There is not only black and white and not every creature of its kind is equal to the other. Your father was an excellent example for this. I am as well. You can discover wisdom and various other talents inside of the demons. Nothing happens without a deeper meaning or just due to coincidence. The universe follows a certain course and now it is time for the Blood Angel to restore the then equilibrium."

"I don't believe in fate and stuff like that. That's why I think every one of us can change things, influence them and turn them how we would like to have 'em ..."

"Do not mess with the universe. You may be powerful and you have accomplished significant deeds, but the universe is too big for you. Ultimately, you must surrender to it like all of us. Besides, how else Futuras could have written down his visions, which have all been proved to be true so far, if every happening was not subject to a higher power?"

"Uh-huh, Futuras was his name. Is he dead 'cuz you're talking about him in the past?"

Savo pauses before finally answering, "He is still alive. Though his unique gift of prophecy was taken away from him thousands of years ago and the flames of the fire hell, causing by its ruler, Berial, torment him until today."

"Hey, that guy's tellin' me somethin'. I took him to task two years ago."

"If you really have _annihilated_ him, the fire hell must have started becoming cold at that time. That would have made him free from suffering ..."

"When hell freezes ..."

"It is time for me to leave", Savo says and gets up. He frees his hand from his belly, therewith making the hole, which still do not want to heal, get visible.

"No, you stay here! You didn't answer _my_ questions yet", Hera pipes up and arises also, though it seems to be difficult for her.

"Your companion has taken over the questioning for you. Besides, there are things to clarify that do not even concern a _Son of Sparda_. Another reunion, only between us, will follow. Do not worry about it."

"One more thing before you vanish into thin air again: How did you get the book?", Dante interjects.

"Gracious as I am, I will answer this very last question. Apart from that I advise you to be more restraint. I found the book in the ruins of the tower called _Temen-ni-gru_, once built by the demons as a sign of their triumph in the human world, for about ten years ago", He replies and switches his gaze back to the _Blood Angel_. "See you soon, Hera."

As happened at the first encounter with the _Sinful Angel_, he suddenly disappears, only remaining his black feathers.

"Whatta freak. But how nice he remembered my name in the end", Dante says, putting his mode of expression crudely.

Ignoring his reaction, Hera approaches the leftovers of her former weapon. She does not pay any attention to _Soul_ that was lying next to her a few minutes ago. She rather gently picks up some weapon's components and looks at them wistfully. The little injury on her hand is already gone due to the self-healing process which supernatural beings have. Furiously, she throws the leftovers against the stony ground. They bounce through the whole cave.

Another piece of her past that has been taken away from her.

"What's next, _boss_?", Dante asks.

"If I only knew ...", She answers in a surprisingly calm tone, against her current mood. "Anyhow, your job's completed. Let's go back to the car to get the rest of your payment."

"Are you really sure that the job's completed yet? I think it has just started. But of course I do accept another payment ..."

"Yes, I am. There's nothing left for you to do." Hera's tone starts to get more determined.

She walks past Dante and is about to approach the cave exit when _Soul_ flashes sideways into the eyes. Stepping back, she takes the sword and puts it underneath her rifle on her back to afterwards continue on her way. Arriving at the edge of the cave, she lets herself fall forward and summons the version of the _Blood Angel_, getting the help of her wings to raise herself high up to the cliff.

Dante sighs and shakes his head before leaving the cave, also using his supernatural form but only that he makes his way up with several jumps in the air.

It has become dark and when the demon hunter arrives on top of the cliff, Hera has already removed her appearance of the _Blood Angel_. She rummages in the car's trunk. Dante approaches her.

"I'm not sure if we can deem him trustworthy. Only because he had been an angel in the past doesn't mean that he's now telling the truth. If he ever did back then ... Also, he could just have translated the entries of that demon, _Futuras_, incorrectly, and that on purpose. Who knows what he's up to ..."

"I'm aware that we can't trust him for one hundred percent. I'll find out what all of that means. Don't know how, but I will."

She hands him an old, medium-sized leather bag which Dante accepts. With a suspicious look, he opens the bag. It is filled to the top with bundles of money. The amount must be ten times more than the advance he got in the office.

"Are you satisfied?", Hera asks, still maintaining severity.

"... You can say so ...", Dante says neutrally, although he inwardly could jump for joy.

When did he last see that much money? The demon hunter cannot even remember.

"I'll take you to the port."

"You certainly understand that I just can't butt out now. Not even for sheer self-interest", Dante says.

"I just said that _I_ will go into the manner. You won't get more money."

"You don't have to pay me for this or to hire me. I gonna do that of my own accord and act alone. I have to make sure you don't do anything stupid, _my little Blood Angel_."

"And what you wanna do? Stayin' here, stalkin' me?"

"I'll leave you some space, for now. But you won't get rid of me completely. I'll keep an eye on you and your pretty appearance", Dante says and gets into the car, on the passenger side.

Without one single word but a venomous look, Hera gets into the vehicle as well and slams the driver's door before fastening the seatbelt. Dante is the one who compensates Hera's bad mood since he is amused by her reaction. Even though he can understand that she must be very churned and confused because of the just experienced life-changing happenings. However, that is what Dante can contribute to restore balance currently; balancing the atmosphere in the car.


	8. Mission 8 - Bad Soul Mate

**Mission 8**

_Bad Soul Mate_

* * *

"Oh, you're back already?", Lady says when Dante enters the office. "I can't see a halo, though ..."

She sits in his chair with her legs resting on the desk and having one of his magazines on her lap.

"I lost it on my way back", Dante replies. "And now move! That's my seat ... and my reading material for relaxation!"

"I just wanted to be a good substitution for you which I gladly continue 'cuz you gonna take the next trip right back to Fortuna. Apparently, Nero had engaged in the _check-up process_ and he's now making trouble. It seems to go into the hot phase now. Trish has already left and you should go as well."

"I knew that ... I don't wanna let her wait then ..."

"Before that, I just wanna know about your adventure on Alba Island. There's got to be time for that", She says, drawing Dante's attention back to her as he was about to turn around and to leave the office. "Did you find out anything regarding the book?"

"Okay, but only the short version: The Blood Angel does exist and it's indeed Hera. I was allowed to witness a little live performance. We also met that _Sinful Angel_ from her dreams. His name's Savo and, as it is, he must be her biological father. She didn't like the fact that much but ... well ... you can't choose family, right?"

"Nope, you can't ..."

"We then had a little fairytale with him about the happenings of those times when angels and demons fought against each other and he also told us how he got his _beautiful_ black wings. So it wasn't all just bullshit what Mundus babbled in front of Trish. That _Empire of the Gods_, so the world where all the angels live, is still existing. It's just closed. The world is only unknown to us because it didn't open again back then. But don't ask me what the _Island_ of the Gods has to do with all that. Maybe it's a connection to the _Empire_ of the Gods? I have no idea. Anyways, coming to the book: Savo found it in the ruins of Temen-ni-gru. Do you remember that tower?"

"Oh yeah, how couldn't I?"

"Apparently, the book was taken by Savo right _after_ Arkham's death. Before Arkham, it must have been in the property of a demon named Futuras in the demon world. He was able to predict the future, supposedly, but lost this ability somehow. He shall still be alive and most likely, he is the main author of the book. That would mean that we now have found all of the three authors since Savo scribbled in there too. He wrote the texts about the Blood Angel and Sparda. As he said, he only translated Futuras' prophecies into the language of the humans, but who knows if he's telling the truth. Maybe there are even more exciting entries from other various people and creatures, but we'll never find out I guess 'cuz we then would have to encode any word and no one has time and fancy for that, right? And it's still a mystery, which probably will never be solved, how Arkham could get the book."

"Um, okay ...?"

"Yeah, it happened a lot in the meantime. A lot of information that, when putting them together, create a pretty crazy story. We have to keep an eye on Hera anyhow, and that Savo's fishy to me. He said he will contact her in the near future to clarify some personal matters. I'd love to be a fly on the wall during their conversation. I'd also love to visit that Futuras dude ..."

"Hold your horses! First, you take care of our _child of sorrow_. I don't want you to suffer from burnout ..."

"Nah! Some excitement never did any harm to me", Dante grins. "Oh, before I forget!"

He takes off the bag filled with money and which he received from Hera, carrying it around his right shoulder since then, moves towards Lady proudly and puts it on the desk.

"We should be more than even now."

She gives Dante a puzzled look before checking the contents of the bag. Her eyes widen.

"You're a free man as of today, my dear."

"That's the good side of our little Blood Angel", Dante says and salutes in front of Lady, saying goodbye to her this way.

* * *

The number of fighters has also increased in the forest. All of them are looking for Nero. Luckily, he has not made his way to the city until now, according to the reports of the organizational members. As a precautionary measure, the numbers of guardians have increased in the city center as well; just to be prepared for the worst case. He has been missing for one day and although the fighters seem to be scattered all over the island, there is still no trace of Nero.

She does not know exactly what makes her going to that place of the forest, she, however, continues on her path. The number of guards is dropping in this area as the last unit approaches her.

"We already cleared the area", One of the fighters says to her.

"Let me still check. Just to be on the safe side", She replies.

"If you mean ... But don't waste your time there. We have to find him. As fast as possible."

She nods in agreement and the fighters move past her.

She had assured the Organization to help searching for Nero. Even if they had refused her support, which probably never would have happened due to the current distress, it would not be an obstacle for her to still contributing.

Continuing her path, she finally arrives at an empty sandy beach. Strangely, it does not seem inviting to her, even though it looks like an ordinary beach where you could spend relaxing afternoons. She could not even imagine chilling here in general. Maybe she only has this feeling due to the tense situation.

"Nero!", She shouts. "Nero, are you here?!"

No answer.

She trudges through the sand and looks around, searching for hints that might indicate the wanted person. Nothing. A rocky landscape adjoins the beach which starts to become interesting for her. She walks along and while doing so, she would have had almost overlooked the narrow and uneven path, leading inside the rocks. Carefully, she makes her way over the smaller rocks in front of her and walks along the path.

There he is, lying in the sand next to his sword. Motionless and surrounded by huge boulders.

"Nero!", She calls before rushing towards him.

She shakes his body cautiously and taps against his cheeks. No matter how long she does that, he is not going to move. His pulse rate, however, lets her know that he must be still alive. She pulls on his arms to make his upper body lift off the ground. With his left arm around her shoulder, she tries to get him up completely, but the strong masculine body is too heavy for her.

"... So I do have to use my Blood Angel version ...", Hera says to herself.

At that very moment, Nero regains consciousness.

"Hey ...", She says to him in a soft and calm voice.

His little and tired eyes look at her. "What ...?", He brings himself to pronounce, still being dazed.

"All is well. You just ran a bit riot. I gonna take you to the others and then you'll feel better, okay?"

Nero answers with a murmur that Hera does not know how to classify.

"Can you stand up?"

He bends his legs and with Hera's help he can finally manage to get up. She leads him closer to the rocks so that he can have a short rest there while she picks up his sword. Holding it in both hands, she gives it a short closer look since the weapon is shaped very impressive to her eyes. She has not seen such a stylish blade before and even her own sword cannot keep up with this one. There is an engraving in the edge of the sword. _Red Queen_. Probably the sword's name.

Her eyes widen to afterwards looking at Nero who can only stand on his feet very cumbersome. She frees herself from petrifaction, how her body felt like for a short time, heads towards Nero and puts his sword into the holder that is added to his coat on the back. She gives him firm footing and presses his waist against her body tightly. That way she gradually escorts the young man out of the impasse.

When they finally reach the larger and free area of the sandy beach, Nero's body gives in, pulling Hera down to the bottom with himself.

"Hey! Nero?!"

Again, it seems like he would have lost consciousness. Only the demonic arm starts to get lively. That is evident because of its sudden lighting up, getting stronger and stronger.

"Nero?"

The onset of cold makes her body tremble and getting gooseflesh. That, however, does not result from the fresh blowing breeze. It lasts too short for that. She senses the presence of somebody. When looking around, no one gets visible to her eyes, though. Only Nero who still lies on the ground without any body tension. Finally, she can see how a man's face appears in the still water in front of her. She straightens up and approaches the sea slowly. The figure in the water grins cheeky. It shows a certain resemblance to Nero, but at the very first sight, she thought of another person. Hera is only able to react with an outraged expression. Words do not want to come out of her mouth. She looks around again. There is still nothing and nobody to see. When switching her attention back to the sea, the face has disappeared and the water shows a natural reflection of herself.

"I know why you've returned to Fortuna, Hera", She hears a metallic, inhuman voice, in which, however, Nero's voice seems to flow in, say. It sounds from the background, whereupon Hera abruptly directs her attention to.

Standing upright, Nero presents himself in front of her. A bright blue aura has formed around him and his naturally blue eyes have turned flame red. The _Devil Bringer_ gives off its steady glow; if it has not intensified even further. He masters the evil grin almost as good as the man Hera could see in the water a few moments ago.

"... What in the world ...", Hera can only say.

"I gladly explain what is going on, but one thing after another. Nero's the reason why you're here. Your assumption is right, Hera. Now you have your proof."

She catches her breath. "... Okay ... So you're responsible for his attacks. You control him. What are you? A demon?"

"This is not about _me_, but rather about _you_ ... and _him_. It scares you that I know your little secret but believe me I know even more about you. Much more than you could think to know about yourself ...", _He_ says. "How severe your longing must be to enfold him in your arms. You're so close and yet so far away. You're a stranger to him. His head is like a black hole. Nothing there. Not even one slight memory of you. I can see that as his new best friend. How sad!"

Her facial muscles are getting tensed out of rage. "How do you think to know all that? Are you watching me?"

"You already ask too many questions for my liking. Let's get to business. There's a specific reason why I've lured you here ..."

"You've planned it ..."

"Just recently, you were able to experience the truth about your being; that you're not an ordinary person, but the Blood Angel. With this you have to fulfill kind of a _life task_. You have to restore balance. I can help you with this since I know exactly how to do that and what is going to happen afterwards ..."

"... And what if I don't give a fuck about that _life task_?! 'Cuz I like to take my life in my own hands. Prophecy or not. I'm not the little asshole of everyone!"

"You start to disappoint me. I didn't think you would be that stupid to really believe that fulfilling your task is not accompanied by gaining great power."

"What does that mean?"

"The Blood Angel is not a subject that has to obey fate. You have been chosen to rule. Mundus must be defeated, ultimately. Your task will be performed with that and what awaits you afterwards is unsurpassable power. You carry human, demonic and divine inside of you, so you connect all the worlds. That makes you a true individual. When your power is completed, you are invincible."

Hera shakes her head in disbelief.

"It seems like you haven't read the entries in the book precisely enough. If you had, you could recognize the true meaning of the Blood Angel, and read between the lines."

"Well, I'll kill Mundus then. But not because I want to get more power. I'll do it for the humans, allowing them to live in peace forever."

"... You would push Sparda's deeds into the background when mastering that. You would be the new species for revering. A living legend", _Nero_ replies. "But there's a catch, unfortunately. Since your power will be only completed _after_ fulfilling your life task, so after Mundus' death, you won't be able to eliminate him eternally. If it were that simple, the whole Sparda alliance would've killed him already. However, he's not invincible as many suspect. That's where _I_ come to play. As his former servant, I know his vulnerability. I'm the only one who knows about ..."

"And that is?"

The unknown being, who has Nero under his control, laughs. "Wouldn't I be dumb telling you that? How should our cooperation otherwise work? No, I'll keep my little secret. The concrete plan looks like this: You help me to open the demon world and _I'll_ kill Mundus. He doesn't have to die by your hands to make your task fulfilling. It just needs to happen. This way, _I'll_ have my revenge for the whole time in which I had to live in baseness and _you'll_ get your power. And the people are also free of course. Just like him."

"But that means you would fight with Nero's body against Mundus?!"

"I have no other option, unfortunately. But I assure you that I'll take good care of him ... as long as you follow the rules."

Hera sighs. "I can see where this goes ... If I don't toe the line, you gonna hurt him. So this ain't a deal; it's blackmail."

"Do you really wanna assume that I'm no fair businessman? Can't you understand that it's better for me to have some backup when making a deal with such a powerful being like you ...?"

"Now there's really no need to butter me up", Hera replies forcefully. "What is after the fight? Then you don't need his body anymore?"

"No. After Mundus' death, anybody will be redeemed, and Nero is free."

Hera shakes her head slightly and darts a dark and skeptical glance at _Nero_ which is rather intended for the unknown being inside of him.

"... Shall I demonstrate to you what might happen if you don't respect our agreement ...?"

_Nero_ pulls out his revolver with the human hand and holds the loaded weapon to his head.

"Okay, stop that shit! Right now!"

The unknown being makes Nero putting on a mean smirk and letting his weapon disappear in the gun holster. He instantly dashes at Hera and throws her to the ground. Despite the sand, Hera's back hits the ground cruelly. He want to bang his demonic fist against Hera's face, she, however, can take advantage of the large cap that results from the retracted arm, and rolls aside. His fist sinks deep into the ground. He must feel the hard layer of the rock that lies underneath the sand.

When Hera stands up quickly, Nero starts the next attack right away. This time the unknown being inside of Nero causes the young man to use his right leg to kick it against Hera's abdomen, with that pushing her against one of the massive rocks as if she were a football.

"Ah ... Not the back again ...", She murmurs to herself as she flops on the floor.

Despite the powerful kick against her body's core, it is the pain on her back which hurts much stronger.

"Do you like this version better?", The strange existence says and pulls her back, grabbing her on the lower leg of her left side with the _Devil Bringer_.

Again he raises his demonic fist. By fixing Hera's left side of the body with his human hand and the weight of his body on the ground, it is no longer possible for her to flee. She has to use her form of the _Blood Angel_ to escape the misery. After freeing herself successfully, she lets go of the stronger version of her being.

"You're frightened to hurt him, aren't you? Would you even put his life over yours?"

His demonic arm extends so that a blue apparition is seeable which grabs her by her throat, raising her high into the air. Due to the firm grip, she is just able to wheeze barely. With gaining momentum, he throws her in the direction of the water. Being still in the air, she can activate her supernatural form to protect herself from falling into the water. Again he brings Hera closer to himself by the use of his _Devil Bringer_, even before she is able to let go of her stronger version. He flings her around and lets her crash on the ground. She heavily flaps her wings, wanting to raise into the air and with that into freedom, but Nero's grip is far too tight.

This circumstance eventually forces her to assault at him while still remaining in the version of the _Blood Angel_. However, she does her best to not hurt him too much. Her hands are pressed against Nero's shoulders and her claws penetrate into his flesh as she shoves him down to the ground. She lets her supernatural appearance dissolve and takes out her sword to press it against his chest and with that holding him down.

How is she supposed to get at the evil essence that has built inside of Nero?

"Enough already! Nero! C'mon! Wake up! You have your own mind!"

"Forget it. Persuasion won't help you."

He raises both legs and uses momentum to somersault backwards. With that, he takes Hera with him.

Due to the changed sides, it is now Hera who has the unfavorable position with lying on the ground. This time, _Nero_ uses his revolver and, no longer hesitating, unloads a shot. Close but still early enough, she moves her head aside and the bullet shoots through the barrier, formed by the many grains of sand, to finally stop in the deep hard rock underneath. She punches against Nero's face, making him feel bewildered for a short time. Using this moment, she presses _Soul_, which she still has ready, against his chest to throw him to the side. She wants to make another attack when the blue aura as well as his red eyes disappear.

"Hera, what are you doing?", He replies in his normal human voice.

This makes her falter. "Nero ...? ... I'm sorry, I -"

His eye color changes immediately and the blue aura restores. Matching his appearance, the villainous expression is to be read out of his face. "No ... Not that easy."

Both stand up.

She is foamed with rage and the cold that she once felt is long gone.

It was only a trick. He plays with her fear of doing Nero serious harm. She fluctuates between restraint and brashness. Cannot the fight just be over now?

Finally, it is anger that occupies her and makes her cry out loud, "Why the hell do you need his body?! I want you to show me your true ugly figure! Oh, wait! I dare you! I guess you would be just too weak otherwise!"

"In spite of the unfavorable position you're in, you seriously venture to provoke me? I really wouldn't like to be in your shoes right now, _my dear_. Even for Nero it's certainly more pleasant for him to stand me than for you to bear the situation ..."

As if he want to punish Hera for her faux pas, _Nero_ reaches for his sword and let it rush down on her swiftly. She uses hers to parry.

He executes powerful attacks, one after another. With every hit, Hera has more and more difficulties blocking them. It seems like he would gain strength with any blow he makes. Defending herself from getting hit, she moves backwards, closer to the rocks. The last attack of Nero is particularly powerful. With that, he lets his sword rest on that of Hera, starting a trial of strength.

Compared to Nero's large and modern sword, _Soul_ looks like an inconspicuous toothpick. The mere appearance may be deceiving in terms of its resistance, though, since her weapon can withstand the strong push, coming from her opponent - at least thus far.

Now that her sword is exposed to such a high load, at that consciously realizing for the first time what it would mean for her if the weapon gets destroyed, she has a queasy feeling. After all, her entire life depends on this blade. Any use of this weapon brings her closer to death theoretically. Not really a soothing thought.

However, if Savo was once the bearer of the sword, so a historical being that must exist since the emergence of life, then this is likely to prove that the sword must be more robust than it appears to be. On the other hand it could be _exactly this reason_ why it is now even more susceptible for damage.

Whether it is Hera's thoughts making her power go down and distracting her from the present moment or that it is just that _Nero_ can use his strength better than her, Hera is about to lose the trial of strength; his blade comes closer to her throat and he presses her against the rock face.

While Hera still offers resistance, _Nero_ suddenly stops pushing, pulls his sword back to let its point quickly dart forward on her. Through this surprising attack, Hera is mentally unable to develop a tactically clever move so that she only lets herself fall to the side, bringing herself into briefly security.

Lying on the floor, she raises her legs and kicks her boots at Nero's right leg, causing him to stumble slightly sideways. Hera jumps up and turns her weapon on him. _Nero_ reaches for his sword, which was sticking in the rock temporarily, and retaliates.

The nimble showdown starts again. Very soon, however, _Nero_ can conclude successfully with using his body's own weapon - the _Devil Bringer_. He punches against her lower jaw and she gets thrown through the air, thereby losing her sword.

"Stop that!", A male voice is exclaiming from the background.

She turns her head in the direction the exclamation came from while lying sideways on the ground as _Nero_ does the same.

A squad of organizational members has formed a few meters away.

"... I guess you got the message; so we're having a deal now. I better save my power for Mundus." _Nero's_ word are carried down to her.

The blond man, standing at the head of the troop, slowly moves towards _Nero_. He raises his hand in order to make his people understand that they shall remain in position.

"So, you did find me!", Nero, who has to surrender to the control of the being, calls to them. "We can stop playing hide-and-seek then!"

While speaking these words, the unknown being makes Nero coming closer to Hera and pressing her down to the ground with his boots, so that her trying of standing up fails.

"I exceptionally agree with that!", The blond man replies and comes to a stop. "Let her go, Nero!"

"That _ain't_ Nero!", One of the organizational members shouts out angrily and passes the alleged leader. "Nero, I know you can hear me subconsciously! Please put an end to that _parade_!"

Roughly, the blond fighter pulls his colleague back by grabbing his shoulder and gives him a sharp look which can be even recognized from afar.

The mysterious existence inside of Nero laughs. "You guys are a funny bunch of fools!"

"Then show us the meaning of intelligence, and surrender yourself! Whatever you may seek for, the triumph will not last long! If you should be able to achieve it anyway! Do not underestimate us!", The blond fighter responds.

"Uuuuuh ... Pretty convinced from your people, huh? I saw how great you guys did that to stop me from escaping the headquarters! Your plan was just _fantastic_! If you wanna see more people dyin' - c'mon then! Just let them come closer!"

"We shouldn't waste any more time because of them. Let's make sure we go on with our plan." It is Hera who speaks to the being inside of Nero.

"Oh and you really don't hafta worry about this woman! She's tough! More than you think!", The strange existence continues, ignoring Hera's words seemingly, and moves Nero to release his foot from Hera to afterwards kick against her stomach powerfully.

She writhes in pain.

"Enough already!", The blond man exclaims, letting his neutral tone become more rough.

"Do you know what I would wish, Raul?! A little fight between you and me! Sword fight only! Without any tricks!"

"Why?!"

"To increase the fun factor!"

"... I will make that wish come true if you assure to stay away from Fortuna and give up control of Nero forever in the case of losing the battle!"

"What?! That's a tall order! Let's make a deal that's more fair! If _you_ win, I won't kill you and your people! If _I_ win ...! Well ...!"

"... So be it ...!", Raul replies and moves towards _Nero_; this time much faster.

After taking a few steps and coming to a stop about five meters away from _Nero_, he uses his right hand to pull a massive sword out of an iron holder, added on his back and which is now seeable due to the shorter distance. The point of the sword hits the ground and sinks deeply into the sand. Judging from the sound, the point of the weapon must have reached the hard floor which is below the sand.

"Hey! Are you serious with this?! He can't be trusted! You only make Nero getting hurt and not that _something_ that hides inside of him!", The man, who has been the only organizational member - apart from Raul - rising to speak so far, yells from the background.

"Tyron ... My patience has run out ...", Raul says grimly, turns around to his troop and nods his head.

A fighter, standing behind Tyron, pulls out his melee weapon and hits its handle against his occiput.

The brown-haired man falls to the ground, being knocked unconscious.

"Is that the way how you always deal with 'em?", Hera is able to say despite pain and heavy breathing.

"It is only for his protection", Raul replies and focuses _Nero_. "Before we start, let one of my men bring the lady outside the battlefield. She has nothing to do with our duel and should not be involved in it."

"That is just wasted time ...", Hera repeats and moves her body up to an all-fours position.

Nero's face looks annoyed while saying, "... For all I care ..."

Raul raises his free hand and summons an organizational member. "Bring her to safety", He tells him.

"She stays on the beach. You just bring her a little bit further away, got it?", _Nero_ says harshly.

Raul confirms with nodding, and the fighter bends down to Hera. When the man wants to help her up, she protests.

Nero's facial expression darkens and he starts getting impatient, letting them know with a deep sigh.

The leader of the troop requires assistance for his colleague by another hand signal and when a second man comes running up, Hera finally yields and stands up.

"I need my sword", She says and looks at her weapon, lying in the sand a few meters away from her. "I'll hold myself back. I promise ...", She adds when noticing the men's uncertainty looks.

After a brief eye-contact with _Nero_, Raul nods again and tells one of the man to bring it to her.

"No! That's not a good idea!", She interrupts them hasty as she calms down a bit. "... That's _my_ sword and _I_ take it."

"Hurry up then", Raul reacts.

Hera remembered Savo's explanatory words about _Soul_, that it cannot be used by anyone else except the _Blood Angel_ and that it does harm to unauthorized persons when trying to take the sword. In order to not aggravate and expand the tense situation, the correctness of Savo's words regarding this matter should better not be checked.

She moves over to her sword in a quick walking pace and puts it away. Finally the two fighters escort her to the rest of the organizational members.

At first, she was undecided about _what to do_. She is still filled with anger and this emotion seems to intensify by the minute. So her self-regulation in this very moment could be almost classified as a wonder. However, it is clear that such an ill-considered action as occurred before the Organization arrived, is not allowed to happen again. Otherwise, the situation would escalate most definitely and take on a dramatic scale. Therefore, it is nothing left for her but to give in and to watch the situation from afar. After all, she knows very well what she _is capable of_, and that horizon expands steadily the more experience she gathers. She will succeed in stabilizing the situation if necessary and if it is not going to happen by itself. At best, she manages clarifying the situation without revealing her true form, which, after all, not everyone needs to know.

After the battle zone has got cleared for the now following argument of the two men, satisfaction gets clearly evident in _Nero's_ face.

In order to lift the sword so that Raul can align it for a corresponding fighting position, he has to put his second hand on the black handle of the weapon. The sword's edge does not look like that of the classic ones since on Raul's weapon are several saw blades, placed one behind the other, to identify.

"Well, then ...", _Nero_ says and executes a diagonally and nimbly stroke; therewith heralding the beginning of the fight.

His weapon bounces off Raul's. The silver-haired man executes several attacks. Every stroke varies in its execution. However, these do not present any problems for Raul. Despite the heavy weight his weapon must have, he responds with quick defensive attitudes. Now it is him who is getting active and makes his blade rising up to let it whiz down. _Nero_ dodges with a side roll and wants to counter when Raul can retaliate the attack. The blond man uses that much power for the blow that Nero's sword gets thrown into the air. Being unprotected, _Nero_ has no other choice, if he want to remain fair and follow the rules of the sword fight, as evading the powerful hits of Raul by brisk body reaction. It does not take long and _Nero_ regains his weapon by bringing himself closer to the falling sword with well thought out movements. Raul is too slow to keep _Nero_ from doing so.

The sword fight duel is continued and _Nero_ uses his maneuverability as well as his lightning speed blows; Raul makes use of his devastating, powerful blows, although these seem to be executed in slow motion in consideration of _Nero's_ fighting style. _Nero_ challenges Raul noticeably by making the fight more and more dynamic. Despite the increased speed of the fight, the blond man remains with his way of wielding the sword, namely concentrated and thoughtful. To _Nero's_ surprise, Raul does not only succeed with his tactic by keeping unharmed, but, beyond that, to interrupt _Nero's_ attack sequence as he presses his weight against the flat side of his blade, and thus against _Nero_. The young man stumbles backwards a few meters and struggles for his balance. Raul uses this chance for another attack. He lets his sword drag on the ground to move faster towards _Nero_, and raises his weapon. This time, _Nero_ does not dodge. He uses the injection function of his blade.

Although he does not do any damage to Raul with this approach, since he can hide himself behind his huge sword, he is able to stop Raul's planned attack. The swords are pressed against and so there is starting another test of strength.

Nero's weapon continues glowing and rubs against one of the many sharp saw blades on the edge of Raul's sword. Suddenly all of the saw blades start to rotate. Raul has activated the special function of his weapon also. This makes it impossible for _Nero_ to press his weapon against the one of Raul and he staggers backwards. _Nero's_ anger rises and he races towards him for another attack. Powerfully, he hits Raul's blade several times. Again and again he gets pushed back because of the rotating saw blades. Even stabbing with the point of his sword does not want to be of use. Raul can hide himself too easily behind his massive sword. _Nero_ raises his sword and again he fails hitting Raul's body. Again the weapons clash together, but this time, _Nero_ uses his opponent's resistance to push himself up in the air and to jump over Raul.

Still in the air, he does some somersaults before landing on the sandy ground and behind Raul. _Nero_ uses his _Devil Bringer_ to have a better grip on his blade and to have more power for the next attack he is going to execute. He turns half around his axis and his sword crashes against Raul's once again since the blond man has imitated the movement. This time, however, the hit saw blade stops rotating. Thousands of sparks fly through the air and the edge of both swords glows red. The saw blade still wants to rotate again and a few seconds later, it succeeds. Nero's Red Queen gets thrown out of his hands and through the air, landing in the sand and in the far background.

The fight pauses and the men look at each other. The stillness gets disturbed when _Nero_ pulls his left leg back in order to quickly change direction and to run towards his sword. Raul is not deterred by the situation anyway so that he pushes the point of his sword forward which makes _Nero_ stumble over and fall to the ground. He wants to straighten up immediately, still focused on his sword, but Raul prevents that as he kicks against his hip, making _Nero_ roll through the sand and closer to the water. When Nero's body stops, Raul already stands close beside him and puts his firm footwear on Nero's chest area; symbolizing his victory.

Nero's chest goes up and down, with that Raul's boots. He still holds his blade ready and the saw blades continue rotating. With a serious expression, he looks down to _Nero_.

He gets a mean smirk back from him, "Congratulations, Raul."

The blond man remains in his position and says nothing at first to then reply, "I feel endless pain, my brother, but we cannot go on like this anymore. I'm doing it for Fortuna ..."

He raises his sword.

"HEEEEEYYYY!", Tyron, who has regained consciousness just now, cries out loud and races towards Raul.

The other members of the organization look at each other with confused faces, unsure and undecided about what to do.

As if by magic, Raul's weapon gets snatched from his hands and lands far behind him in the sand. An ability that slumbered deep inside of Hera and that waited to be discovered and tested.

Arrived at Raul, Tyron lunges at him and makes the colossal man crash to the ground. Wrathfully he belabors him while _Nero_ enjoys the situation.

Since the organizational members seem to be overwhelmed with the current happening and do not longer focus on keeping Hera in control, it is easy for her to hurry away.

The two opponents roll in the sand and Raul counters with his fists.

"Cut it out!", She screams and tries to push Raul down from Tyron, but she fails in doing so.

She looks back to the organizational members. She probably will not get any help from them. Even if, would they be useful?

From then on, her perspective seems to slow down, as if this happening would be played in slow motion. Shall she use her _Blood Angel _form now, though they are watching? What consequences would it have for her when switching to her higher version? It could get about that she is not human. The whole Fortuna region would know - and then? Would it have any disadvantages for her?

As if _Nero_, or better said the strange being inside of him, could read her mind and would want to relieve her from this burden, he stands up and uses the _Devil Bringer_ against them. That makes both _whipping boys_ become attentive, so that they stop their argument, and Hera's view gets faster again.

"We had an agreement!", Raul exclaims, starting to let his fury become more and more recognizable for his environment.

He throws Tyron, who could get back his advantageous attack position in the meanwhile, aside and stands up.

_Nero_, however, is too fast or the intervention of Raul was too slow and too late, so that the men of the Organization already has been knocked unconscious.

"Yes, we had and I still stick to it. After all, they're not dead", _Nero_ says, looking sideways to Raul as he finally turns around to fully face him.

Behind Tyron and Raul, two different wings arise above their heads which then enclose them. When they open again, the two men glide gently to the ground, also without a slightest movement.

Hera had decided for a more peaceful way to avoid another conflict. Followed by that, she lets her form of the _Blood Angel_ dissolve and walks over to Raul's oversized sword. She presses the button, located on the handle of the sword, and the saw blades, which had continued rotating during the whole time, leaving marks in the sand now, stops. Hera spots an engraving on it: _Disaster_.

She gets up and pulls out her sword. The look at Raul's sword reminded her of her own. She checks _Soul_ if it has got any scratches or something. Its surface is still pure and clean, shining like a diamond. Relief lets her body loosen.

She stores her sword on the back and dedicates herself to the more serious affair by moving over to the unknown being that has settled in Nero.

"What's next?", She asks and looks in Nero's eyes in which malice emerges.

Even now, she cannot stand this expression any longer. Especially not on him.


	9. Mission 9 - For Him

**Mission 9**

_For Him_

* * *

He follows the noises that can be heard in the forest and while doing so he also follows a path he had not taken two years ago. The woodlands start becoming more open when the noises increase. They can be identified as male voices.

Finally, a beach opens up before Dante. He did not expect Fortuna to have one at all. So far, the forest was only like a connection between Fortuna Castle and the headquarters to him.

Several organizational members care for their fellows. They support and doctor them. Something must have happened.

In the left area of the beach he sees Raul with whom he had to do briefly. Tyron is present there also. He sits in the sand while an organizational member palpates his head. The brown-haired man glances angrily at Raul who is receiving a monstrous-looking sword from one of his men.

Puzzled by what kind of event must have taken place here, he trudges through the sand and moves towards the two men he - contrary to the other organizational members - knows a bit.

"Nero's back! He's in the castle!"

Dante turns around. The exclamation comes from a fighter who must have made his way through the forest just after Dante to now joining the present people on the beach.

"In the castle?!" Raul replies, "He is not supposed to be there! He represents a danger to Kyrie!"

"No, it's all right!" The man answers from a distance, approaching Raul hastily.

Dante also walks over to get to hear the fighter's report.

"Nero's his old self again. It was indeed a demon who hid in his arm, but he's dead now. He defeated him!"

"Did you see with your own eyes how he killed the demon?" Raul asks.

"No ..."

"Has anyone else noticed it?"

"No, but -"

"Then I do not believe it. This is most likely just a scam of the demon who is still inside of Nero. Is he alone with Kyrie?"

"No, a few of us are there too."

"That is at least something, but that will not be enough. I must go to the castle right now."

"_You_ better stay away from _him_!" Tyron interjects, brushing his fellow off who wanted to take care of his well-being, and stands up.

"Can someone just enlighten me? What happened?" Dante intervenes.

Raul's face appears twice as dark as it generally is when looking at Tyron to afterwards loosen it a bit and lets his glance wander to Dante.

"We had a little _éclat_ with Nero. First in the HQ, where he slew several of my man, then here. It came to a fight in which I was involved. Before the fight, he hold a woman hostage. I cannot remember what happened afterwards ... Excuse me, Son of Sparda, but I must leave immediately."

Raul puts his massive sword back in its holder and lets Dante and Tyron behind.

"All of you should have a little rest and get ready for any further instructions!"

Raul then pushes his hand against the upper back of the man who reported about Nero's return; this way making him walk along with him. While both men leave, they seem to exchange almost secretly.

In parallel, Dante gets pulled on his arm by Tyron who whispers:

"Dante, you need to be at the castle _before_ _Raul_ or at least to prevent that he gets too close to Nero. _Please._ He wanted to kill him, even though he knows that all of that ain't Nero's fault. That _shithead_'s splitting the entire Organization. He even got one of my colleagues to incapacitate me, so that I'm unable to stop him."

"He wanted to kill Nero?"

"Yeah, in a brutal way. His sword has a perverse function. You can chop up people with that."

"Okay ..." Dante utters and looks to the side.

He gets to see Raul's back, particularly his sword with its dangerous saw blades.

"Not sure if he would've been able to do that, but yeah, that wasn't nice from him ..." He continues and turns his head back to Tyron.

"So you gonna make sure that everything's okay? They could outbrake me but not you."

Dante nods.

"Thanks", Tyron says, seemingly being relieved.

"One more thing. That woman. Did you see her? If so, how did she look?"

"Yeah, I did. Brown and long hair, fair skin, blue eyes. A young woman in her mid-twenties. Athletic body, and _pretty pretty_."

"... Did she wear a purple top and gray trousers?"

"Yeah, you know her?"

"You can say so. I gotta go now ..."

"Please make sure that Kyrie's safe too. I don't know _who_ or _if_ I can trust anybody here ..."

"I'll do so. My partner is with her anyway. I'm already curious about what she gonna tell me ..."

"Oh, the beautiful blonde?" Tyron grins.

"... Yeah, Trish ... I really hafta go now ... And if I were you, I would be very careful from now on ..."

Tyron nods.

The demon hunter walks towards the wood. That is when the man Raul talked to comes Dante's way. The man devotes him a skeptical look which makes Dante reply snappishly, "What?" - as a pubescent teenager would do. Surprised by Dante's reaction, he winces slightly. Dante then increases his pace and leaves the beach that Raul already has left behind.

* * *

For a long time she only got to see the seemingly endless ocean and here and there a few mountains in the water, which she used for short rests. However, finally some buildings extend beneath her. A sign that her destination is not far away. Her wings glide elegantly through the air while her golden eyes scan the metropolis. A red flashing neon sign attached to a house causes her to take speed out of her wings and to slowly go down to the floor. Her appearance changes, so that out of the _Blood Angel_ becomes a young female human being.

Her proud and, at the same time, elegant way of walking, which she always shows, leads her closer to the wanted building through whose window she is now looking. She discovers a black-haired woman in there. The one who Dante called _'Lady'_. She is sitting on his chair and polishes her rocket launcher.

Hera pauses for a short time before knocking at the office's door. Opening the entrance, she gets an astonished look from Lady who then stops cleaning her weapon.

"Alone?" Lady asks and tilts her body to the left side to catch a glimpse behind Hera.

"Yah", Hera answers curtly and allows the door to close with a loud bang.

"Where are the others?"

"... Still in Fortuna. They are needed, so they gonna stay there for a while. I'm supposed to tell you that, and to check the situation _here_"

"Okay ...?" Lady says with a puzzled look, "You've traveled from Fortuna back to this place? How's everything going up there? I thought you've had your trip with Dante at your home island just recently? "

"Yeah, but I had something to do in Fortuna. Then I noticed the incident with Nero. Everyone was looking for him so I decided to help out but now Dante is there together with ... Trish. They'll fix _the issue_ somehow", Hera says and moves towards the brown leather couch on the left side of the room to have a seat.

Lady's eyes were following her the whole time.

"... And you gonna stay here, or what?" Lady asks and goes ahead cleaning her portable rocket launcher.

Even before Hera can reply, the phone rings. This makes her startle.

Lady sighs.

"Just do your business. That's okay", Hera says.

The demon huntress pulls her weapon, whose end she has put on the ground to a standing position, closer to her, so that she can reach the phone, answering it with the words, "_Devil May Cry_."

"... I see ..." She says after a brief silent moment. "Just hold on a little bit longer, I'll be right there."

Being annoyed, she replaces the phone and rolls her eyes. "What a timing. A new job."

"The demons don't sleep ..." Hera says.

"No, especially not these days."

Lady stands up, places her weapon on the desk and does her last quick adjustments to make it ready for use. She stores the utensils needed for cleaning in one of the desk drawers and takes out a bunch of keys. Then she hangs the strap attached to her weapon over her left shoulder.

"I must leave now."

"I can stay here and take care of the office. This way you guys don't miss any calls, if there's so much going on currently ..."

"If you have nothing better to do", Lady says, rolling her shoulder back for a more comfortable position of her weapon, as she always does before heading to a mission, and walks to the door.

One last glance is for Hera before stepping through the door and closing it.

The sound of locking the door gets hearable to Hera what makes her turning her head to this direction promptly.

"Kidding me?" Hera says to herself. "... Well ... Whatever."

She looks at the wall behind the desk. The object hanging there has already caught her eye during the conversation with Lady. She turns her head back to the door and let herself sink back into the sofa to get a better look out the window. Lady seems to have disappeared. To make sure that the black-haired woman definitely has gone to the job's location and is not roving in front of the building, Hera rises from the couch and approaches the window. There is nobody to see outside. She turns her body, so that she looks straight at the weapon attached to the wall. The sword of Sparda. That _must_ be it.

Gradually, she heads for the sword, focalizing it the whole time. When being close enough to the weapon, she removes it from the hooks that kept the weapon on the wall. Holding the powerful sword of the legendary knight in her hands, she feels an incredibly strong heat inside of her.

A loud bang sounds from afar which repeats immediately. Surprised by the sudden sounds, she finally assumes Lady being responsible for that.

"Now or never ..." Hera says to herself once again and places the sword underneath the rifle holster on her back.

In doing so, she has to take _Soul_ off to create more space for the sword of Sparda, which reminds of an oversized saber. She can feel the weight difference right away. Although Sparda's sword occupies a large area of her back, Hera manages to place her own blade there too. Now her hands are free; free for her rifle wherewith she moves towards the door. She aims at the lock and unloads a shot. She succeeds in destroying the lock and opening the door. Due to the immense penetrating power of the weapon, the door slams back and forth several times.

Hera puts away her rifle and rushes trough the door, getting to see Lady who must have waited for her in a corner. Her arms are crossed and her weight is shifted to the right hip.

"Where do we wanna go?"

Hera's swindle got exposed. Her annoyance about that can be read out of her face. Nevertheless, she tries to elude when answering, "You already finished your job ...?"

Lady loosens her folded position of her arms and taps twice with her left hand at her destructive weapon, "It goes pretty fast with this."

Hera perceives Lady's analyzing glances. Her eyes wander from above Hera's head down to the side of her left thigh. The areas where the sword, she carries on her back, protrude beyond Hera's body. Then she overlooks Hera to get to see an empty wall behind Dante's desk.

"You wanna take a souvenir from the office with you? Was your short visit that memorable?"

"Let's drop the fake game. I got it already. I won't get out of this."

"You smart cookie! At least you can grasp that. Luckily you didn't become an actress 'cuz your acting skills ain't the best", Lady says, "What do you expect to achieve by that?"

"I need that very urgently. It's very important. I would've brought it back ..."

"Oh, well, if that's so ...!" Lady says ironically before getting more serious again, "Sorry, that stays here."

"I'm sorry too, but that's impossible. I can't accept that. I didn't come here to return empty-handed. Even though I might become highly unpopular with you guys now ..."

"Return? Back to Fortuna?"

Hera remains silent.

"Okay ..." Lady says, pulls out her pistol fastened to her right thigh and points it at her.

Hera closes her eyes, lowers her head and grins slightly. As if this had been a brief moment to collect herself, she opens her eyes widely and races towards to Lady, her _Blade of Souls_ uplifted. The pistol gets knocked out of the demon huntress' hands what makes her react with a punch. Hera is able to see that attack off, but not Lady's kick which, eventually, hits her abdomen. As she writhes in pain, Lady wants to snatch the sword out of her hands. Just when Lady touches _Soul_ and forces Hera to let go of it, she cries out; this time it is her feeling agony. The weapon falls to the floor.

This is the perfect moment for Hera regaining _Soul_. Lady, however, recovers too quickly - or she just knows how to deal with pulsating pain to still being able for taking actions - and uses her elbow against Hera's sword-bearing hand after which the _Blood Angel_ loses her sword again; this time it is for a greater distance since the weapon lands sideways in a corner.

Both without a weapon in their hands, Lady uses her body to push Hera down and her weight to press her against the ground even more. She wants to recover the sword of Sparda when Hera feels for Lady's left thigh and, especially, the gun holder from which she steals a pistol. A shot gets released by her. If Lady had not been able to get herself up quickly, performing a handstand on Hera's back, the bullet probably would have drilled into her stomach. She releases one hand from Hera's back, recovers her pistol from Hera's hand, makes a backflip, and gets up on her feet. Once again, she points the pistol at Hera; this time holding the gun with both hands.

"Think twice if you really wanna pressure me to go on. You could tell me your little secret and maybe we'd find a better solution than this", Lady says to Hera who still lies on the ground.

"There ain't no better solution", Hera replies and gets up slowly.

"Ah! What the -", Lady cries suddenly.

Her facial expression clearly indicates that she has to suffer pain now. She lowers her arms and with that, Hera does no longer stand in sight of the firearm.

"Ah!" Lady groans again.

Holding the gun tight in her hands as if her muscles would cramp, she goes down on to her right knee. Her eyes are pinched. Hera moves towards her.

"Before leaving, lemme me say _'thank you'_ for your kind gesture", Hera says and bends her body forward.

Tension releases out of Lady's fingers, so that the gun falls down to the ground. However, her hands seem to freeze afterwards since she keeps them in the air without any movement. Her eyes open and she looks up to Hera. Anger can be read out of them.

Hera kicks Lady's firearm to the side to this place where all the other weapons have accumulated in the meantime.

The body of the demon huntress trembles in an attempt to compete with that force which has been making her limbs petrify.

Hera punches her fist into Lady's left cheek that strongly that the demon huntress falls sideways to the ground.

The _Blood Angel_ is surprised. Surprised about the fact that her magic already has subsided since Lady seems to be released from rigidity. Possibly it is the long flight to this island that has been debilitating her.

She wants to hurry to her blade but gets snatched at her ankle by Lady, making her stumble and fall down. Lady crawls up Hera's body, without carrying _Kalina Ann_ on her back. The rocket launcher had slipped off her shoulder after her tumbling caused by Hera. Lady can release Sparda's sword from Hera's back. Thus feeling less resistance that pushes Hera to the ground, she can gain momentum to roll over, taking Lady with her, so that it is now the black-haired demon huntress who feels the ground with her back, and Hera, on the other hand, feels Lady's restless body underneath her. The barrel of Hera's rifle goes just past Lady's left side of her face. Hera fumbles for the hilt of Sparda's sword Lady has in possession. Hera pulls at the weapon as hard as she can but Lady's hand does not want to let go of it; as if her body would start getting rigid again; this time in favor of Lady. As an old habit, Hera wants to reach for her dagger when noticing that its storage place, the little extra fastening attached to the strap of the rifle holder, is empty. Lady places her left hand around Hera's body, with that fixing her searching hand and rolls over with her to the right side of their bodies; Hera does not allow a full turning over.

The _Blood Angel_ uses this position to press her weight against Lady's right arm and, finally, to snatch the sword out of her hand. Lady has stolen Hera's rifle with her free left hand in the meantime. She pushes its barrel against Hera's chin. With her left elbow, Hera hits Lady's chest, making the barrel shift at the same time and a shot gets unloaded into the air.

For a better control of Sparda's sword, Hera uses both hands, turns her upper body to the left side and with the broad surface of the melee weapon she knocks the rifle out of Lady's hand. The rifle bumps against the wall of the _Devil May Cry_ building and lands next to the steps that lead into the office. Hera rolls to the side and rises quickly. Lady has also got up. Instantly, Hera races towards her and throws her through the windowpane, again using the flat side of the blade. Countless glass fragments and splinters fly through the room as Lady slides along the floor, stopping right before Dante's desk. Hera uses the newly created passageway and jumps into the office. Despite various shards that have drilled in Lady's body, she immediately straightens up again.

"Okay, I can't stand it any longer!" Lady yells and pulls out another handgun which she had stored on the back of the high waistband of her pants, kept it there well hidden by her blazer.

Due to the look of the weapon, one could describe it as a mix of a pistol and a shotgun. She pulls the trigger.

Contrary to Hera's assumption, it is not a bullet that shoots out of the weapon but a hook attached to a thin wire rope, now drilling into Hera's left thigh. So the _surprise weapon_ can be identified as a compact harpoon.

Immense pain emerges inside of Hera which she must cry out. Lady makes the wire rope getting shorter by pressing a button and with that letting Hera come closer. Being near her, Hera gets _welcomed_ by a heavy punch against her left lower jaw. After that, Lady pulls the hook out of Hera's leg, causing another strong sensation of pain in her, and makes the hook disappear in the weapon's barrel to then giving Hera a blow with the butt of the harpoon. Her opponent staggers to the side, roughly landing on the desk. The sword, which she has lost during that, has anchored in the wooden floor in front of Lady's feet.

The demon huntress shakes it and after a short while she can free the sharp sword's point out of the wooden floor, letting it crush down on Hera. The sword cuts the desk's centre so that timber breaks, however, this piece of furniture does not fall apart completely. Hera could escape just in time. As a result of the attack, the weapon is stuck again.

While Lady is busy freeing the weapon out of the wood once again, Hera limps as fast as she can to the dresser on the right wall of the room, reaches for a vase and throws it at Lady. The demon huntress kicks it back right away and the porcelain decor thunders against the dresser where it breaks into several pieces and floods the store with sharp splinters. It was easy for Hera to move her body out of the target right before the vase could hit her.

Now Hera limps to the chair behind the desk. Lady can only guess what Hera is about to do and rocks the sword even harder which she can finally liberate from the wood, then jumping over the desk. Hera reaches for the chair. She strikes out and hits the sword of Sparda behind which Lady finds protection. Hera repeats her movement; this time letting the chair rush at Lady from the other side. Now Lady uses the sword actively. The chair gets destroyed and Hera only holds the chair's back in her hands which was also kind of a shield for her. The weight of the melee weapon makes the sword sink down, again - of course - right into timber.

Lady's attention is no longer dedicated to the sword but to Hera. She presses her body against the chair back and thus against the brown-haired woman. At the same time, she turns Hera 180 degrees and throws her into the broken center of the desk. Hera screams. The wood splinters drill into her waist form both sides. She wants to free herself but any trying causes only more pain and let the wood splinters sink deeper into the flesh. She is stuck. It almost seems like her body would be the only support for the desk not to break completely.

Lady breathes heavily but can elicit a satisfied and mischievous grin. The black-haired woman opens a desk drawer and takes out another pistol. The woman seems to never lack any handguns.

Hera concentrates her supernatural powers. The situation _has to_ turn to her advantage. Her _Blood Angel_ skills, however, fail to appear; she is yet too weak.

The gun gets unlocked and pointed, a few inches away, at Hera's forehead.

"It shouldn't have ended this way ..." Lady says and places the finger on the gun's trigger.


	10. Mission 10 - Welcome to Hell

**Mission 10**

_Welcome to Hell_

* * *

Shaking his head, Dante enters the room as Raul kills the last demon in his perimeter, deactivates the special function of his sword, and puts it away into its holder on his back. The demon hunter also stows his melee weapon away and watches Raul's movements, always executed well-considered - this is the appearance it has at least. Due to the brutal look of Raul's sword, Dante's attention is paid on this weapon, too.

"Damn! He must be long gone then. And she is probably with him ..." Raul replies to Dante's negative reaction, by his standards, very incensed.

"Does the bridal kidnapping not always take place _directly_ on the wedding day? Maybe he just couldn't wait anymore ..." Dante says and strolls through the bedroom of Nero and Kyrie he had surveyed afore and which he was allowed to use for a quick nap.

"Shall we continue searching?" A guard of the Organization, who is also in the room, says to Raul.

"I'll do that", Dante interrupts while looking out of the fogged window with arms crossed.

"That will probably be the best. I think we as an organization have already reached the limit of our powers."

Dante slowly turns to Raul, being astonished by his discernment. In those few moments he had to deal with Raul he experienced him quite differently. He is just relieved that Raul remains with his style of speaking because otherwise Dante were assuming that he would have a total new personality.

"We maintain the increased troop numbers in the castle's district. The range of the demons has to be kept as little as possible. Minimum staffing in the HQ. The remainder secure the city", Raul commands, "It is the beginning of our master exam."

"Understood! I'll pass it to the others", The fighter nods and moves out of the room in a fast pace.

"... Can the demon inside of him be responsible for the flood of demons?" Raul asks.

"Well, the creatures came right on cue ... But they also attacked Nero. Either way, they were still good for distraction to move himself easier through all the hubbub, and to get at his babe. In addition to that, his play with confusion tactic which made everyone unsure about his true being; so if he's the _real Nero_ or not", Dante says, having turned to the window again in the meantime.

"Especially the last mentioned thing of you was it that made my men become hesitant and feel torn inside. Including Kyrie. Everybody has a longing for an end of that haunting and a desire for Nero becoming his old self again. After all, nobody wants to be blamed if he should get seriously hurt during an intervention."

Dante has a remark on the tip of his tongue but in order not to expand the situation, he decides to keep that for him.

"What does he want from her and where could he have taken her?"

"No idea ..." Dante says.

Just in that moment, the demon hunter sees something interesting outside.

"Your partner also seems to have been swallowed up by the earth."

"Yeah, but she probably knows where to go ..."

Dante steps out of the glass door. Someone must have fired at a large tombstone of the military cemetery on which he is standing now. The traces of the shots represent an arrow pointing to the right as if it wanted to lead him out of the graveyard.

"You can manage the demons?!" Dante calls from afar through the open door to Raul.

"Yes, it will be feasible! As long as they do not enter the city, we should have a good chance!" Raul replies.

Dante nods and just wants to follow the direction of the arrow as he takes a few steps backwards.

"One quick question before I leave, just out of sheer curiosity: Did this check-up on Nero reveal somethin'?"

Raul stares at him for a while before he finally replies, "No. We would have needed more time."

"Well, then ..." He says, not being surprised by this answer, and starts running.

On his way, Dante finds some more hints left by Trish which all want to lead him to the direction of the forest, as he assumes. Meanwhile, demons continue to emerge to keep him busy. These creatures as well as those that stormed the castle as a horde a few moments ago make him remember the conversation he had with his colleagues. Above all, he thinks of Lady's finding regarding the demons which react to human emotions. Since the attack in the castle's area he has only encountered demons of that kind. He did not even see those ones he guesses to be typical for Fortuna yet, so those ones he fought against two years ago and also during the event with Nero and his fighters in the mountain region.

One demon type of the new creatures that was among those that stormed the castle and which is only now not being present in the group forming before him, is the one he had to take on in front of the headquarters to protect Nero. In accord with Lady's explanation - the demon had emerged solely because of Nero and his weakness in that moment - he dubbed that sort _Weakness_. There were many of _Weaknesses_ a short while ago; now there is not even a single one.

Interestingly, by the time the many _Weaknesses_ emerged, Nero had been present as well to then, supposedly under the control of the inner demon, seize the moment and to gain access to the castle, and therewith to Kyrie. She literally must have run into his arms even though she was supposed to hide in the bedroom. However, when the demons emerged in that room out of nowhere too, the fighters probably had been overwhelmed with the situation and that is why they could not stop the young lady from running to _Nero_; she had too much trust in _Nero's_ claims about the victory of the inner demon.

The demons, blocking Dante's way, are hectic. There were enough of them attacking the castle. They were present a few minutes after the emergence of the many _Weaknesses_; even until now. Especially the skulls of these skeletal figures, which can be divided into two types, earned Dante's attention from the beginning. In both types, it seems as if the skull was placed upside down on the cervical spine; except that the skull's front of one type looks backwards instead of forward and the skull of the other type is aligned vertically, so that the demons' perspective of the world is the other way around. Otherwise, the beings only can be distinguished between their way of attacking and defense. The demons, looking backwards, carry a giant shield with them whose appearance can be described as an oversized dented metal sheet. It provides cover to them but it also serves as a weapon. Those beings, seeing their surroundings _from another perspective,_ are protected by a kind of fencing which is provided with innumerable spikes. Taking a closer look, it can be seen that the spikes are actually long nails that protrude, constituting a connection to the skeletal body so that the fence-like thing can hold at the demon's body. Even though the demons actions are swift, which is curious due to inconvenient and hindering equipment of the demons, the confrontation turns out to be child's play for Dante; especially as the number of emerging demons is not as strong as before.

When finally nature spreads in front of his eyes, confirming Dante's assumption that Trish wanted to lead him into the direction of the wood, he can hear bushes rustle. He is already sure that this is not because of organizational members this time. He looks around and sees another arrow on a tree which, assuredly, is made by Trish, too. Right behind this tree, he sees a bony figure protrude. As if the creature were realizing that it has been caught - like during a hide-and-coop - and is now the loser of the game, it takes a long step to the side, showing itself completely.

The gloomy, red-brown skeletal being, which can only be another of the emotion-based demons, shows a straight and proud posture. In the right hand it holds an immensely sickle. A red light shines out of its eye sockets and two thick horns stick out of its skull. Its bones are covered with black feathers here and there. Even from afar it is to see that the creature is about six feet tall.

"Lemme pluck your feathers, _devilkin_. Maybe I can take you more seriously then ..." Dante comments.

As if this provocation was the demon's expected start signal for a fight, the creature storms towards the silver-haired man in an incredibly rapid pace. It only cuts the air with its weapon since Dante rolled aside. The demon fidgets with its sickle, nevertheless, it has no chance to get him. The jumps and moves of the demon hunter are still much too fast for the demon.

Now being closer to him, Dante notices the demon's jaw position is shaped like a grin.

Dante breaks the demon's series of attacks by slamming his blade against the demon's melee weapon. The creature staggers a few steps back but then pursues with its attacks. This time Dante uses his broadsword for defense. Suddenly, the demon jumps up. Dante rolls to the side and the creature hits - to its regrets - the ground. Dante takes the opportunity and rams his sword into one side of the demon's body and lets even more attacks follow. Eventually, the demon is able to free itself from fixation created by Dante and strikes out with its sickle. Dante jumps into the air, however, not too high so that he can get back to the ground immediately, landing directly on the sickle of his opponent and keeps it there with his weight.

Dante cuts off the demon's head and it flies to the side to afterwards roll through the meadow until it gets stopped by a tree. Since Dante still feels resistance underneath his feet as if there would be still life in the demon's body though it has no head anymore, Dante continues with his attacks. The bones get tormented by Dante heavily. After a short while, Dante stops with this and jumps backwards to let go of the demon's weapon. The headless demon reels when shooting up his weapon. He probably had not been prepared for the sudden lightness of his weapon as it feels without Dante as a loading. The demon hunter also moves up his sword, but controlled, and lets it rush down on the demon. The skeleton divides into two pieces when finally all the bones separate from the bone frame and fall to the floor, together with the sickle.

Dante looks to the left. The creature's skull lies still next to the tree. Also the facial expression is the same. However, when the body starts dissolving, the creature's skull disappears too.

In the belief that he has won the fight, Dante follows Trish's hints. When seeing the next arrow, he already assumes that the sign is supposed to lead him into the beach's direction because otherwise, when following the path, he would end up at the headquarters. With that, Dante paves his way through nature.

Arriving at a forest clearing, the bushes start rustling again. Dante's presumption of other bony figures being present gets confirmed as two of those horned, red-brown demons emerge from verdure.

They approach their subject of desire from both sides and want to go into action when Dante flees into the air, making the weapons of both demons clatter against. Again, Dante starts attacking one side of their bodies; this time, however, he gets interrupted by them. The demon, standing to his right, strikes out its weapon close to the demon hunter's head while the other one does the same below at Dante's feet.

In that moment, Dante rapidly puts his broadsword away, lets himself fall backwards - his weight resting on his feet and, especially, on his left hand - and uses the emerging gap - the free middle part between the sickles - so that the weapons rush past him; the sickle above the grass misses his supporting left hand just very briefly. Now the demon hunter uses his legs to push the creatures away. The demon to the right has to take do with the right leg of Dante and the one standing to his left with the other side. Still performing kind of a bridge, Dante fetches his broadsword and executes a sweeping blow, at the same time rising from the ground.

These creatures seem to know how to use their weapons in the best way, so that they take advantage of the crescent-shaped form of their melee weapon to make Dante's broadsword go down instead of only blocking Dante's attack. They also benefit from their horns which they now let come to action, thrusting them forward to Dante's chest. He lets go of his sword and switches to his pistols at a lightning speed, shooting at the demons' horns. It only needs two shoots, hitting one of the demons' horns each, to make them stagger backwards. In the result of that, they lose their weapons.

After the brief use of his firearms, he puts them away again, throws himself onto the ground, since this is the fastest way to come closer to his broadsword lying on the floor, and lets his weapon swing from one side to the other. The demons get cut off their feet and as the creatures feel the ground with their shin bones, Dante caps it all off when putting his sword back to have his hands free for both of their sickles the demons left in the ground, letting them rush down on the demons. The sickle's tips penetrate into their skullcaps deeply. He, however, must desist from the weapons as he notices that he is not going to get the demons down to the ground or even destroyed this way, although he expends much energy for that intention. Nevertheless, the creatures have to cope with this attack.

A noise sounds in Dante's ears which makes him assume that someone is about to cut down a tree. Being momentarily distracted by this perception, he gets pushed back by the demons. When hearing the noise of splitting wood fibers, which Dante classifies as if that cut tree starts to fall down now, and recognizing huge shadows in the form of treetops move, Dante takes a look behind him and above. He is right: Two mighty trees are about to fall down on him. From the corner of his eye, he can see who was causing this - three beings of the same type have joined the fight.

The demon hunter starts running and reaches for the arms of the two creatures which pushed him back and were about to move themselves out of the range of the falling down trees, and pulls them towards him. The demons stagger past him and Dante continues running. The trees hit the ground, giving off a loud noise. Having brought himself into safety, he turns around, seeing that the two giants have buried the creatures.

"You guys better quit the job as a forester! I think it ain't much good for you!" Dante shouts to the three demons who are just jumping over the barricade formed by the trees.

He uses the time and triggers a hail of bullets with his twin pistols. The creatures, however, can escape this attack due to their high speed which makes them also coming closer to Dante rapidly. Surrounding him, they raise their weapons. He blocks every attack and does not only use his sword but his entire body.

Somehow, he has the feeling that this group of skeleton and devil looking demons is even stronger than the one before; as if the level of the fights would increase per stage victory, and the hardness grade of this group had rocketed.

He kicks a demon's pelvis while hitting another creature with his blade. He then changes the sequence and kicks the one standing behind him and uses his sword against the third one. He continues his attack series like this; alternatively deploying his body and his sword to pay the same amount of attention to all present beings near him. This way the battle starts getting kind of a reaction test which also includes attacks and defense tactics. The longer this procedure lasts, the faster fighting is about to get. Now Dante is sure about the fact that this beings are tougher than the ones before.

Since the situation simply does not want to change to his advantage, only remaining constantly tied for both parties, he decides to leave the encircled position with taking a big jump. Being high up in the air, he lets rain down a hail of bullets on the demons while spinning his body at the same time. For a brief moment, the bullets penetrate the creature's bodies when they finally get to understand they must flee the line of fire.

As Dante's body lowers, he has a surprise for the demons: Just before coming back down to the ground and thus in the middle of the circle formed by the demons - although the circle has widened since the demons had stepped back in the meantime - he pushes himself through the air and rushes towards a demon, letting nimbly sword strokes follow. The being is completely exposed to Dante's attacks. This is to change through the other two creatures.

Dante senses temperature increasing behind his back. He stops attacking, stows away his sword into the holder on his back and pushes himself up into a handstand by putting his hands on the shoulders of one of his bony enemies. With that he sees what is going on behind him.

The weapons of both beings are on fire. Theytake a big swing and let arise a fire wave. It dashes forward, also occupying the creatures. The thick trees lying on the ground make the fire wave coming to a stop, however, their bark has to atone for it. The fire spreads on the brown surface of the giants of nature. The grass has been affected, too, but it does not burn area-covering; only at some places with dry grass.

Dante has already come back to the ground after rescuing himself into the air when he races towards the creatures that have caused the fire. He has also been activating his _devil trigger mode_, so he can break through their defense position, letting them feel the effectiveness of his sword. The heat of their burning weapons does not bother Dante at all since he is even more resistant due to his more powerful version.

The demon which was literally overrun by the flames is still on fire but he does not dissolve. He rather causes another wave of fire directed to his colleagues what makes Dante stop attacking and flee to the side. Now these creatures are _infected_ by fire, too.

Dante dissolves his demonic form and stares at the burning demons with a questioning look, his head is tilted to his right shoulder.

"You like it hot, huh?"

As if two of the three beings would feel provoked by it, they rush towards Dante and attack him with their sickles, showing their high speed when doing so. The demon hunter uses his sword and his pistols alternately to keep the demons in check and to maintain a certain distance from the wall of fire created by them. Now they step aside and a huge spark of fire in form of a huge sickle, just like their weapons, races towards him. He jumps into the air and the formation of fire ends up in a shrubbery which also starts burning. It was foreseeable for Dante that he would have to expect an attack from afar since the demons' stepping back had been far too suspicious.

Dante banks on strong sword strokes, especially on those for which he needs great momentum, guiding the fire back to his enemies with a consequent air draft. The trio repeat their action and Dante anticipates another _fiery greeting_ from afar. After dodging the summoned fire, looking like copies of their sickles, the demon hunter relies on his _devil trigger_. With drawing sword, he dashes over to the demons, almost overrunning one of them and therewith making the flame, that surrounds that demon, dance. He runs back, focalizing another one which gets rammed to make his way to the third creature, destabilizing his footing. Moving from demon to demon in a speed that is not traceable to the human eye, the fire forms a zigzag on the ground due to the air draft caused by Dante's fast movements. That zigzag fire gets used by the demons to combine it to one huge firestorm which they pass to Dante. Since jumping has become kind of Dante's main activities during the fight, he gets himself up into the air once again while watching the firestorm racing towards nature which starts burning immediately. With that, the burning on the fallen down trees increases, and the wood gradually turns into a dangerous fiery fighting arena.

Dante accelerates battling and focuses on having better control of his movements which, due to his demon form, is twice as fast as in his normal state. He manages to outwit the beings so that he can hit them more often and also more powerful, finally letting the fight come to an end.

The horns of one of the creatures break and fall to the ground as Dante's enemy dissolves together with its flames. Another demon loses his partially feathered arm and vanishes into thin air. The sickle gets out of the last demon's hands and when it hits the ground, the demon also disappears.

Dante looks at the remnants of the creatures which begin to move as if the parts were attracting each other like a magnet. The sickle connects with the bony arm and that again with the horns. The result is a strange construct of a weapon, going up in flames as it was typical for the demons. Gradually, the fire subsides and what remains is the unusual weapon, only having increased its size. The sickle on one end of the new weapon is now approximately three feet big and with that twice as big as the sickle the demons used. Dante lets his gaze wander from the crooked edge over to the middle part of the weapon that still looks bony and is still decorated with two black feathers, and finally to the other end of the weapon. The former horns of the demon, that had to let go of, have become a bident. The spikes have the size of an arm's length of Dante. Being skeptical but still curious about the weapon, Dante takes the copper-colored melee weapon, holding it in his hands so that the spikes of the bident face the sky.

As it is part of Dante's tradition, he must try out the weapon right away. So he takes a swing with the sickle and stings with the bident, on the other end, into the air and whirls the weapon joyfully and nimbly around. Therewith he notices another mechanism of the weapon which is both particularly exciting and practical: The cartilage of the hilt makes the weapon more flexible. Both ends can be adjusted however you want it to have, so you can classify it as kind of a nunchaku. Dante uses that function in a variety of positions, creating new attack techniques that make the weapon look even stranger. When he suddenly ignites a firestorm, sparking all around, Dante has just warmed up and his movements get wilder and wilder. After a while of enjoyable activities, the demon hunter gradually slows down and the firestorm subsides.

Dante did not realize the forest fire, caused by him when testing the weapon, has got even stronger, so that the green place of silence has been turning into a second hell.

"Oh", Dante says only, responding to his altered environment, and his happy face changes into a baffled one.

A rain drop lands on his nose. Dante looks up. The clear blue sky, as it was seeable before the situation in the castle, had darkened when entering the forest. Now, the sky is covered by black clouds only. A sky in doomsday mood. A second drop lands on his nose's bridge, and the next follows immediately. Now there is thunder to hear. A clear sign that a storm is approaching. The time lags of the falling down drops get shorter, and is starts raining.

"The natural fire department is arriving", Dante says to himself, watching as the ever-increasing rain curbs the fire and depress the flames.

Suddenly, a blue beam of light reaches skywards far away from him, showing despite dense nature, fire, and smoke.

That event seems to come from the beach. Dante squints his eyes. It does not take long for him to see demons of various kinds emerging from the beam, flocking as a great horde into the demon world. Dark shadows float above his head and nimbly creatures scoot past him; partly even through the fire. Some beings fail and they get burned. Most of the demons, however, scurry forward successfully. A few demons hit Dante's blade since they do not want to eschew him, continue rushing afterwards, though. Their interest seem not to apply to the _Son of Sparda_ but rather to the city center and the headquarters in which direction they move accordingly.

Dante adds his newfound weapon to _Rebellion_ on his back and starts sprinting. He uses the niche that rain could clear from fire to get himself closer to the beach.

When entering the beach in pouring rain, a chaotic situation unfolds in front of him. It takes a few seconds for the demon hunter to capture what is happening before him with all his senses. The beach is full with demons. Species, he has never seen before. From hairy, large creatures to petite, slippery crawlers; any kinds of demons seem to be represented here. They do not only jump out of the beam, but even out of the beach's backgrounds, as if they were part of the environment. Demons form out of sand grains, they get depressed down to the ground as lumps due to the rain, though. From the water, there are emerging demons who one could guess them to be hybrids of any kinds of mammals, coming from various water bodies from all over the world. Only a few flying demons remain in the area of the beach; most of them spread out to the ocean.

All of these beings are kept in check by Trish and Hera only. Both have to fully make use of their available energy, abilities, and weapons to attack and repulse the demons.

Dante enters the fray and lets his multifunctional weapon get applied.

"You took your time!" Trish shouts as she notices the presence of the demon hunter, continuing her combat actions.

Although Trish lets her voice sound loud, Dante has to concentrate to hear what she says with all that noise caused by the demons in combination with the used weapons and the storm all around him.

"Sorry for being late! The walk through the woods took longer than expected! I had to take charge of nature protection! How did this big party come about?!"

"Hera can explain that to you later! Let's make sure we stop the demon wave as soon as possible first! Kyrie urgently needs a doctor, and taking her to the HQ while this turmoil makes no sense!"

Dante tracks Trish's index finger with his eyes. She points to Hera, standing farther away from the duo but next to Kyrie who lies on the ground, protecting her with everything she has.

"Well, if she's on the brink of being played out, we should heat up the party! You back me up?!"

"I will!"

Dante slaughters his way towards Hera, wanting to support her in the effort to protect Kyrie. For that, he has to pass the haired beings which could also be identified as mutant grizzly bears. About two dozen of that type bustle in front of him, and that is only the first layer of the entire demon horde. Trish places herself behind Dante and _supplies_ the demons, that are in her field of vision, with several bullets. She has to deal with sandy figures that are the same amount as Dante's enemies. She, however, has the support of the natural spectacle. Not only that their bodies subside and get lumpy due to the wet but also that Trish's bullets get better into their bodies, causing more damage on them this way. Dante plays with the features of his new weapon. What he especially likes at the alternative nunchaku is its flexibility and versatility. This is to see on his attacks. Sometimes the sickle gets hurled around, the next time it is the bident. Then he collapses the weapon in the middle so that he can use both ends at the same time. This way he quickly succeeds to manage the first demon layer. Trish, too, has just beaten her enemies.

Gnome- and dwarf-like demons get visible to Dante. Their nature is wooden, as if someone had carved them only for this fight. This time, the number is difficult to estimate as they move quickly back and forth. They also form leg-ups to raise with Dante at eye level. It is certain, however, that there must be quite more than two dozen of these beings.

Trish is allowed to make do with several variations of skeletal demons, at least temporarily, since one type of these different kinds gradually cut themselves off from their demon brothers to approach Dante. The demon hunter notices their interest in his person which makes him smile. He can clearly identify that certain type of those emotion-based demons. After all, he had fun and an enjoyable trip with them into nature, he is also now holding the leftovers of their relatives in his hand.

As being a perfectly tuned team, the demon hunters switch places, so that it is now Dante who gets confronted with all the skeletal demons, and Trish devotes herself to the little creatures.

Due to this huge demon horde, the battlefield gets increasingly confusing and chaotic. It cannot be avoided that attacks are made crisscross and that the splitting, agreed among the demon hunters, so who is allowed to take what kind of demons to task, gets mixed up; especially, since every enemy is just right to the demons, with the only exception of the devilish skeletal ones that seek for Dante. Each of the two demon hunters are therefore highly demanded of their coordination. They also have to prove improvisation and team spirit. So they embark on chaos and after a while, their main focus on killing the demons as fast as possible starts to show visible results.

The feeling of getting crushed because of the demons' mass decreases. There are more and more gaps Dante and Trish use to move forward towards Hera and Kyrie. Soon, however, the free spaces are used by crawlers where Dante decides to temporary handle them with his pistols. Even though the fire attacks with his _nunchaku_ is not much use during the heavy rain, he still decides to attack with that weapon here and there, just like now, to keep the demons at bay. When the number of demons has reduced to an acceptable level, he relies on Trish's abilities to handle the rest on her own, and uses his _devil trigger_. He races through the demon horde and minimizes the distance to Hera and Kyrie rapidly.

Hera has her share of the horde very well under control. Only about twenty enemies are left for her, including a mixture of various demons which could be seen throughout the demons' mass. Dante saw the shadows of her wings when she were transforming into the _Blood Angel's_ version. She knew how to handle the situation.

Just when Dante wants to participate in the fight of the remaining demon troop, already inwardly enjoying the free space on the beach despite the troubled environment, blue-green and crocodile-like demons jump out of the forest. Those that were also present at the first major demon fight he had battled together with Nero in the depths of Fortuna's mountainous region. They also raced towards him in the woods after he had recognized that blue beam far away at the sky. Did they decide to change direction or are there no more victims left to catch in the city?

Dante keeps the newly arrived beings in check for Hera, so she can eliminate the demons around her. Relatively soon it becomes recognizable who probably must have flushed the beings. A troop of organizational members, with Tyron at the top, emerge from the forest and trudge through the wet sand to join the fight.

"KYRIE!" Tyron exclaims, being startled when seeing the same picture which Dante saw a few moments ago.

"We gonna be done here soon! Let's finish the rest, then you can take her outta here!" Trish shouts to him.

"Y-yes!" Tyron replies from afar.

The organizational members are already helping out when Tyron gets himself involved as well. He exclusively deals with those creatures with whom the combatants do not want to make do with since those beings evade attacks far too easily due to their hasty nature; especially now where there is more space for dodging. Tyron reaches for his branch-like sword and swings it around. He, too, does not hit the figures, but the electricity, flowing through his sword as blue energy, does. In each direction the sword gets moved, blue electricity shoots out of his melee weapon, penetrating the demons' bodies. Those parts of the electricity that do not hit the beings are forwarded to the nearest demon due to the wet sand, and when he releases another beam of electricity, he literally creates a blue _net of electricity_, making the creatures fidget.

Dante has been curious about the special features of Tyron's sword the whole time. Now he is allowed to experience the functions of the melee weapon at close quarters while any attack of Tyron seems to be executed very controlled. The hit creatures are like being paralyzed. This makes it easy for the brown-haired man to eliminate them with one single sword stroke.

Each person being involved in the fight do their bit, so that gradually the final moment, where the last demons fall and dissolve, approaches. No denizen of hell is to see anymore and it has become quiet on the beach - an almost unfamiliar experience to stay on a spot without any noise in the background.

Tyron and the rest of his squad rush over to Kyrie. Only now Hera makes way, so that they can reach her. During the entire fight she seemed to be rooted in her close vicinity and did not leave her side, as if she had been chosen to be her personal bodyguard. Even in her version of the _Blood Angel_ it almost seemed like she had taken Kyrie under her wing.

"Kyrie, can you hear me?!" Tyron says tensely.

He kneels on the sand and Kyrie's head rest on his thighs. He gently taps her right cheek. With the other hand he stabilizes her head. In effect, she opens her eyes a bit.

Her expression looks tired and empty; her skin very pallid. There is no color on her lips. Large blood spots are visible on her wet clothing. Her left forearm is covered with a lilac-colored scrap of fabric, that again wrapped with a narrow, black leather belt. The fabric is soaked with blood, too.

It is clear the fabric belongs to Hera's top since there is missing a huge part of it. Before that, one could only see one half of her abdomen area as that clothing was made like this. Now her entire belly is to see, with shreds from the separated fabric underneath her breast. That bit fabric on her upper body as well as her pants also show traces of blood. Trish then must have don the leather belt on Kyrie's arm; her pants do not have such accessory anymore.

"Okay ... Balthimo, you're the strongest of us. You carry her to the HQ. We'll support you and clear the way", Tyron instructs.

The muscular colossus nods, bends down to her and straightens up together with her, carrying her over the threshold. Then he hurries away, and the rest of the troop, except Tyron, follows, weapons ready for a fight. Before the wood, however, they come to a stop; probably waiting for Tyron.

The troop leader lets his gaze wander from person to person in the group, not knowing _what_ to say; _if_ he should say anything at all.

The luminescence of the blue beam, emerging out of the water and reaching towards the sky, intensifies. That attracts the attention of all.

"You should hurry. Seems like fun's about to continue ..." Dante says.

"Yeah ..."

"We stay here and do our best to get the most of 'em off your back. Or should one of us come with you?"

"No, thanks. We'll be fine. We got back up from the others, and we're armed better now. We can do it. Good luck to you and ... thanks", Tyron replies. "C'mon, guys! Let's go!"

After saying these words, he runs to his colleagues to make their way through the forest together.

Trish and Dante switch their attention to Hera who has turned her gaze down to the ground in the meanwhile. A mixture of embarrassment and sadness can be read out of it.

The focus on the brown-haired woman gets broken off when countless of death eagles swarm out of the beam. They make noises typical for raptors. Further tones and shapes, also arising from the beam, follow. The roar and hiss of the demonic grizzly bears and the colorful crocodile-like figures, the splashing of the death sharks which bath together with other mammal-like creatures in the water, the noise of clattering bones of the skeletal, emotion-based demons, the squeaky and distorted laughter of the wooden gnomes; only the demons emerging from the sand seem to be mute. Even if they made a sound, it does not matter anymore.

Chaos from before is restored. Liberally with some more demon types added.

From the start, there is a wild tangle on the sandy battlefield. The demons no longer form groups of the same kind; they are randomly mixed. The only helping tactic: Attack, and think later. The good thing for the inhabitants of Fortuna Island with this horde of demons is that considerably fewer beings hurry away. Most of the demons want to mess with Dante, Trish and Hera this time which means additional work to them.

In the back area of the beach and thus some feet away from the trio, there is a loud bang, and afterwards a strong clang. Something must have been rammed into the ground, making it vibrating. At the place of the event, sand is whirled around but the grains of sand fall down immediately due to the weight of the many water drops from the sky. A big hole has formed in the mass of demons and in the background, it becomes clear who is responsible for this incident.

"Lady?! What are you doing here?!" Dante shouts out to her in surprise, but still being glad about her arrival.

"Actually, I wanted to finish the _customer talk _with Hera which we had started in the office but before that, I thought, you guys might need my help!"

Dante's look is questioning. Since the demons do not want to give him a break, he has to switch his attention back to them, pushing their destruction forward.

"Don't know what you're talking about but you're very welcomed to join the party!" Dante finally answers.

"_She_ can explain everything to you later!" Lady replies and shoots another rocket.

Again, the rocket lands in the middle of the demons' horde and tears a second hole into it.

With Lady's reinforcement, the progress in killing the demons can be seen more clearly. Since Hera is no longer bound to Kyrie to provide her cover, she can execute her attacks more freely which also helps the quartet to be more productive and to achieve faster results. Gradually, the battlefield gets clearer and clearer and coordination among one another gets easier so that resistance against the demons can take place even more intensively. After what felt like an eternity and the thousandth blow and shot, everyone finally succeeds in destroying their respective last opponents. Silence, only filled with everyone's breath, lets them know that this demon wave is over, too. Also the weather seems to have adapted to the resting time since the rain has lost its heaviness.

"Hopefully, it gonna take a little bit longer before the next wave ..." Trish says to herself when the _conquerors of the demons_ gather together.

"Yeah, I hope so too. The demons should at least stay back as long as we ain't up to date", Dante replies.

"Oh, absolutely", Lady says, "This is your part now, Hera. Lemme give you some advice: Open your mouth and tell us the hell what's going on! And no more tricks if you don't wanna get deeper in the shit. You needed Sparda's sword to open the demon world, didn't you? Does that have anything to do with that Blood Angel thing?"

"Sparda's sword?" Dante repeats.

H era has sat down on the ground in the meanwhile. Her left knee is pulled towards her. She looks out to the ocean as if the answer were hiding there.


	11. Mission 11 - The Dark Ritual

**Mission 11**

_The Dark Ritual_

* * *

Just in time, Hera manages to raise her legs and to kick at Lady's abdomen with the last of her strength. During this, it feels like as if the wood splinters would pierce deeper into her flesh. Despite Hera's weakened state, this kick is powerful enough to push the demon huntress against the wall. The back of her head thunders against the wall and when Lady hits the floor, she does not move anymore.

The bullet, unloaded by Lady, has bored into Hera's abdomen. However, she accepts any additional pain resulting from that attack as a shot into her head would have been far more critical.

Hera moves her body to the left and right in order to free herself from the wood splinters of the half cracked desk in some way. This movement, moreover, does not contribute to Hera's benefit. She supports her hands on the desk and with a strong jerk she finally manages to free herself from the misery. The desk breaks through completely and the two parts of the wooden furniture slam onto the floor with a loud bang.

She groans and slumps to the ground. Her eyes are closed. Not only for better concentration on a regulated breathing rhythm, which she now urgently needs for stress reduction, but also to spare herself the sight of her mauled abdomen. After a short moment of pausing, she opens her eyes and looks at Lady who still lies unconscious on the ground.

There is no better time for escaping. This becomes clear to her and so she resists the inner desire for a longer pause, and she stands up. She jolts at the sword that is stuck in the wooden floor. It takes several attempts, but finally she manages to loosen the weapon. Due to its weight and the jerk with which she pulled it out of the ground, she staggers back and forth, so that something as simple as keeping the balance becomes a real challenge. Eventually, however, she rallies and builds up secure footing. She breathes a few times and attaches the sword to her back.

Gradually, her self-healing powers set in, albeit slowly, and thus represent a true blessing for her. After a last view back at the motionless Lady, she leaves Dante's office.

She is aware that she does not even have to try to invoke her _Blood Angel _figure. After the turbulent fight, the energy for this has once again been overstretched. She prefers to use the rest of her inner strength to heal her wounds as far and as quickly as possible.

She starts running. Just getting out of here; that is her next plan. Maybe meanwhile she will get an idea how to get back to Fortuna Island without having to activate her higher form.

Running straight ahead she finally arrives at a harbor that is a little more modern than the one in Fortuna. She looks around. A middle-aged man is in the process of putting various coolers on a motorboat. _A motorboat. _Perfect. Hera hurries to the water vehicle.

The key is already inserted.

"Sorry, but this is an absolute emergency!" She says to the man and pulls him up to herself on the jetty and at the same time down from the motorboat, which is now free for Hera.

"Hey!" The man shouts and just wants to jump back onto his vehicle, as Hera puts a lifebelt, which is also on deck of the motorboat, over his head and throws him into the water.

Hera immediately knows what hand grips she has to take to activate the boat. Her time together with her father as an angler, which meant numerous trips out to the sea with the use of various water vehicles, no matter whether they were older or more recent models, gave her the necessary knowledge.

The engine rattles and Hera jets off.

Several hours later she reaches the beach of Fortuna, which appears for her in a gloomy scenario. The sky has become overcast with dark clouds. A mood that makes the beach seem repulsive to Hera.

He is already waiting for her and has brought a companion as well. Hera parks the vehicle near the rocks and switches off the engine. She moves towards both of them.

"She ...?" Kyrie says, "Nero, please tell me what this is all about!"

"You gonna know soon", _He_ replies, touches her right shoulder and kisses her forehead as he passes Kyrie and looks at Hera. "You have it."

"Did you expect something else?"

"Not really. I knew you'd stick to our deal ..."

There it is again. That grin.

"Why is she here, too?" Hera asks.

"It's nice that you two are so interested in each other. Your relationship surely will improve even more ..."

Kyrie's insecurity increases and turns into visible fear. The young woman suddenly seems to realize that this Nero can't be the real one. As if her protective bubble, in which she had been all this time and which was filled with good faith and wishful thinking about the return of her fiancé's true core, had just burst.

She takes a few steps back, but Nero grabs her by the left arm with his human hand and pulls her back to himself.

"Pull out the sword", _Nero_ commands roughly. His words are addressed to Hera.

"I want to know beforehand what she has to do with it. You didn't mention anything about her."

"Do what I say."

"What is all this about", Kyrie repeats in a shaky voice.

"... And you shut up."

Now tension also begins to accumulate in Hera. Her body becomes stiff.

"C'mon!"

Hera takes a long exhalation and brings her left hand over her shoulder on the same side to slowly take out the sword of Sparda.

"Good", Nero says and stretches out his devilish hand, the _Devil Bringer_, to the side.

A long sword, better described as a katana, is created from the demonic hand. He clenches his fist and holds the sword in his _Devil Bringer_. Now he presses Kyrie even closer to himself and places the katana near her throat.

"Okay, stop it!" Hera yells and Kyrie's eyes widen in shock as her lips shake.

"Relax! I'm not that much of an asshole ..."

From then on, everything happens much too fast. As soon as he had removed the sharp edge of the katana from Kyrie's throat and brought it to the underside of her left arm, there is already a deep, long cut that takes up her entire forearm. This act was accompanied by a violent thunderclap, which was followed by an immediate onset of rain.

"NO!" Hera cries out.

Nero promptly releases his firm grip around the back of Kyries' hand, throws her to the ground with his human hand and puts the katana into Hera's right free hand. He has to forcefully close her hand so that she does not deliberately drop the sword.

Hera's body starts cramping instantly. Her fist is automatically squeezed even tighter. She tries to catch her breath. From her mind, she wants to act and literally move her body to take control of the situation; intervening somehow, even though her head cannot make a concrete suggestion at this moment. Her body, however, does not want to obey; it does not want to move a bit. As if rooted and paralyzed, she stands there. Now she gets hot; hotter and even hotter. It feels as if her blood is starting to boil. This heat is passed through all the blood vessels and eventually makes her feel an illusionary implosion. She screams and gets louder and louder. Then there is stabbing pain, a feeling of pressure in the chest, then palpitations. Sweat pearls, which in the end cannot be identified as such anymore since the rain gets stronger from time to time, running down her temples.

Black wings grow out of her back, her skin turns dark grey and black symbols form there. The blackness of her pupils is transferred to the entire color of her eyes. The armor, as it appears in the classical _Blood Angel _form, is also created here, but it is soaked in darkness. Identical with her previous higher form, her hair color and fingernails have the same deep dark contrast.

The sea seems to adjust to Hera's body temperature as it begins to bubble. A few meters away from the beach, a round, bright blue spot lights up in the water. It grows narrowly high up to the sky; possibly even into the universe.

Hera's pain gradually subsides and her dark appearance also does. When Hera shows in her human form, she drops the two weapons and falls down to her hands and knees into the muddy sand. There, where Kyrie is still lying and where the two swords sink almost completely.

"Your part is done. Now I gonna do mine. The rest will follow by itself. See you", _He_ says while picking up the two swords, lets them disappear in his demonic arm and starts moving.

"Absolutely ... Looking ... forward ... to it ... You won't ... get away ... from me", Hera can elicit with heavily breathing.

Kyrie slowly turns around and follows _his_ steps with her eyes, being completely dazed. She opens her mouth and is only able to say, "... Ne-ro ..."

They both see _him_ walking above the water's surface. With every step, a large circle forms below his feet, just as it appears when something enters the water. He moves through the beam which begins to shine more intensely, and blinds strongly in the eyes of the two women. When the light's brightness fades, he is no longer to see, as if the light had absorbed him.

"Kyrie ..."

Hera moves towards her on all fours. Next to her, she lowers herself to the ground with her left side.

The blood from her dangerous wound flows constantly and is immediately washed away by the rain and transported on to most of her clothes. This is particularly noticeable on her once radiant white skirt. Disgust and pain, which she seems to feel representatively for Kyrie, overwhelms Hera at the sight of the cruel injury. In her condition, Kyrie cannot even be able to feel pain when all tendons and nerves are severed there. This also explains her stillness. As if she was not present anymore, but she is breathing, albeit very delayed, and an occasional blink reveals that there is still a small, weak spark of life in her. The cut has been done very precise down to the forearm bone, so that her artery was also attacked.

"Holy shit ..." She says in a shaking voice and with tears in her eyes.

Fast steps through the wet sand can be heard from the background. Hera turns around and sees the black-dressed and blonde partner of the well-known demon hunter. Trish also lowers down to Kyrie.

"Oh my God! We have to tie off the arm somehow to make it stop bleeding. And then we have to take her to a doctor!"

Trish looks around and rids herself of her black leather belt when it hits her eyes.

"Wait!" Hera tears a large piece of clothing out of her top, which has been repaired by her supernatural regenerative abilities apart of her belly, and binds the life-threatening wound as tightly as she can. "Now."

Trish wraps her belt around the purple fabric. She sticks the silver hook of the belt buckle through the material. This enables her to attach the belt to Kyrie's arm without that it gets loosened.

"I was watching you. I'm really excited for your explanation", Trish says in a strict tone to Hera.

"Why didn't you do anything?"

"For the same reason you didn't do anything about the situation. We both knew that an action would have backfired. Even if we had worked together."

Just after Trish has spoken that words, the light of the blue beam distorts and begins to vibrate. As the effect subsides, vast numbers of demons shoot out. The flying demons float over their heads. A part of the demons that remain on the ground rush into the forest; the rest register the presence of the three women, and these are allowed to undergo the examination of the demons. The creatures in the water observe their prey from this very element. The beings approach carefully and surround the three. The whole beach is filled with demons.

Trish sighs. "Congratulations ..." She stands up and reaches for her pistols.

Silent tears run down Hera's cheeks, which unite with the raindrops. She gives Kyrie a squeeze and whispers to her: "I'm _so_ sorry ... I bring him back to us ... Everything will be fine ... I swear."

Then she cautiously places Kyrie down on the ground and rises. She pulls out _Soul_.

T he hustle and bustle of the demons, which has been quiet so far, gains volume, and with that they throw themselves at their prey.


	12. Mission 12 - You or I?

**Mission 12**

_You or I?_

* * *

"So you have a cooperation ongoing with that _taking-possession-of-Nero-something _or what?" Lady asks harshly.

"_Cooperation_? I got blackmailed!" Hera hastily straightens up.

"... That's why you got back to Fortuna so quickly after our trip ... Is that also the reason why you wanted to talk to Nero back then?" Dante asks.

"No, no! This is all going in the wrong direction! I don't have any bad intentions as you guys probably think!"

"You just want to do justice to your life of being the Blood Angel and therefore you have to do things that aren't so nice. With all that drivel about life task, balance, Empire of the Gods, and so on, one can quickly lose track of things. Power is just _so_ tempting ..." It is Lady speaking again.

"Believe me I don't care a hoot for that _Blood Angel crap! _Power and control interests me even lesser! I _had to_ play along! I had no choice! Otherwise he would've done harm to Nero!"

"_He?_ Do you know who or what possesses Nero?" Now it is Dante again raising the question.

"I don't know exactly. When we made that _agreement_ \- that was also here on the beach - I saw a face in the water. A male one ... Your face."

"_My face?_"

Trish and Lady look at each other suspiciously and then let their gaze wander to Dante. He returns their look.

"I was confused. My first thought was that _you_ ... But that was just impossible. He did this to confuse me even further most likely. It can only be a demon in the end. Who or what else should it rather be?"

"... Did he tell you his name or anything else about himself?"

"No, he said it's unimportant who he is. Later he only told me that he'd been Mundus' servant in the past, and that's why he wanna kill him in revenge now. Therefore he needed to open the hell gate. Right from the start, he wanted to win me over with that talk of more power and the Blood Angel story, but that's _really not my point_. I just wanted to protect Nero and so I had to get involved in the deal, so helping him to open the demon world. At that moment, I didn't know what else to do. One thing is certain, though. I will teach that demon a lesson!"

Dante furrows his brow and squints his eyes.

"The puzzle fits together ..." Trish says.

"Oh yeah ... I plead Mundus' innocence. At least regarding Nero's changing ..." Lady says. "But hey, why the hell's Nero so important to you? Saving lives is nice and sweet but in your case it goes a bit too far, don't cha think? Are you into him?"

"Does mere sibling love not count? Even if it is only for a half-brother?" A deep voice sounds in the background.

Savo, the _Sinful Angel_. Out of nowhere he has emerged behind the demon hunters and is now joining the group.

"You don't say ... Well, that explains a lot ..." Dante says to himself.

"On the subject of brothers and sisters, there is something relevant I have to tell you, Dante. You may be rude, but as the son of Sparda I must not withhold this information from you. Just as I never had refused and never should have refused helping your twin brother."

"Aha ..."

"After I had found the red book on the Temen-ni-gru tower and read the entry about the Blood Angel, the urge inside of me to find my daughter grew only stronger and stronger. Undoubtedly, the entry was about her. For years, I searched in vain. The only good thing about my journey through the human world was that it allowed me to get to know my new home better, although it still does not feel like that. Be that as it may, on my journey through the human world's sky, the turmoil on Mallet Island attracted my attention. Although I had not find the person I wanted to find, I still seemed to had been in the right place at the right time. I met Vergil. Better said, his soul. His body, which had become Nelo Angelo back then, was dead. However, he could free his soul from Mundus' spell and thus regain his true spirit that only craved for more revenge and power after all that had happened. A restless spirit that, if it should be so, wanted to die as Vergil and not as Mundus' slave. All that was only possible because of his immensely strong will to live and his strength, managing to flee from Mundus and not yet dissolving or ascending to eternal death. It impressed me what he was capable of and so I felt obliged to help him to a second life, a second chance. In order to perceive this, however, he needed a body as quickly as possible, otherwise all his efforts had been for nothing. A soul cannot be without a body for long without dissolving. I lent him my body temporarily to lead him to one that was worthy of carrying the power of a Sparda's descendant. To this day, I do not know any better person than Nero."

"WHAT?! Then you are responsible for all this?!" Hera replies outraged.

"... I knew where he was and so I could lead Vergil to him. In return, Vergil told me where I would find my daughter. He already knew the rumors about the Blood Angel and while his soul was anchored in my body, he could feel my greatest wish."

"So there's no doubt anymore. He's still alive ... Somehow ... And now we know the reason for Nero being weird, and where this demonic arm actually comes from ..." Dante says.

"That is right. Only through Vergil, Nero could become a demon. A half demon", Savo explains.

"And now he wanna compete against Mundus again, this time with Nero as his body?"

"He told me that he would know how to defeat Mundus once and for all. Many people think he's immortal, but he ain't. As his former servant he would know his weak spot", Hera interjects.

"Trish?"

"I don't know anything about a weakness of Mundus", The blonde demon huntress replies. "But it seems like he's more informed than all of us together since he already knew about this Blood Angel story."

"Yeah, looks like he has good sources ..." Dante says and turns his attention back to Savo. "How was it possible for him to open the demon world? So far, you've always needed a portal for that."

"A portal is dispensable with Hera. More precisely, she is such a portal. As the Blood Angel, she represents the perfect connection to all existing worlds."

"... So she's something like a mobile portal ... or a _portal to go_ ..." Dante utters.

"... Then Hera's brought him Sparda's sword. Your amulets are inside of it, Dante. Thus he had the first _ingredient_ for opening the demon world", Trish interjects.

"He got pure blood from Kyrie ..." Lady replies.

"... And since I left Yamato to Nero two years ago, he also had this ingredient handy ..." Dante says and sighs. "Okay, there's no other way than to help my brother coming to his senses again. Hopefully for the very last time."

"And how you wanna do that without hurting Nero?!" Hera asks.

"I'll find a way ..."

"We have to wait until he has defeated Mundus. After that, he supposedly doesn't need Nero's body anymore. If Vergil is then separated from Nero, we can take up the fight without hesitation and without Nero getting hurt."

"... So that he's the new demon king and the shit hits the fan? If he should make it this time anyway."

"_Demon king_?"

"Yeah, that has always been my brother's greatest goal. You didn't seriously believe he'd be satisfied with Mundus' death only? Nobody, not even an ordinary demon, would miss the chance to rule the demon world. You didn't really buy his story, did you? Would you really be that ... _naive_?"

"Of course I know he can't be trusted. His promises are worth shit and Nero's still in danger. But do you really think he made all this up? There must be a grain of truth and I believe he didn't fib regarding Mundus' weakness and the fact that he doesn't need Nero after the fight. We hafta watch and wait, until that moment when Nero gets useless to him 'cuz that is the moment where it doesn't matter whether Nero dies or not. Then we must act - protect Nero and kill _him_!"

"Why he shouldn't need Nero's body after his victory over Mundus? That doesn't make any sense. He's still just a soul who - if I understood that correctly - can search for any kind of body and take control over it. Without a body, he dies. And a willingly death is simply out of question. Especially not after he's made it that far. He would ensure, in any case, that he can survive in a body to fulfill his dream. He would _never_ seek Mundus' body as a substitute ... If he would be up for one of us ...? Possibly not. Not even for a twin inside of a twin", Dante says and shakes his head when mentioning the last sentence to reject the repulsive thought that has formed in his mind due to that statement. "I'm sure he'll stick with Nero, so he _won't_ release him." He then switches his attention to Savo. "Or do other rules apply in the demon world and after the victory over the lord there? Anyway, can a soul be harmed when push comes to shove?"

"Son of Sparda, as a divine being I know much about the worlds and their peculiarities. I also know more about the demon world than my brothers and sisters could ever have known. But now we reach a point that exceeds my knowledge. Unfortunately, I cannot serve with more indications. That is why it is time to hold myself back", Savo says. "I can only assume that a fight against a soul might be difficult and might have a more _special sequence_ than you are used to."

The black-winged angel gives Hera an insistent look and disappears.

"A simple _'I don't know'_ had been enough ... But I don't buy that, my friend. Maybe you even go squealing now ..."

"No matter what happens. I'll smooth everything out he forced me to do. And he'll also pay for Kyrie's suffering. In case of doubt, I have plan b."

"That is?"

"You'll see", Hera says and heads for the blue beam.

"Wait, you don't really wanna go into the demon world _all by yourself_ ...?"

"Um, yes? Maybe it's even better that way. After all, this is about my brother."

"It's about _my brother_ too."

"Then let's go together. But you follow _my_ instructions."

Dante laughs. "Sweetie pie, that's not how things work. It's better when I - and I mean only I - enter the demon world. At least, there's nobody gonna get in my way ..."

"I see. You think I can't handle it. Shall I tell you somethin'? Just because you're Dante, _the infamous demon hunter_ and the son of the _almighty Sparda_, doesn't mean you're invincible. Look, even Mundus, who was believed to be immortal, could soon kick the bucket. Besides, it doesn't always have to be _you_ who can do something about evil. Maybe someone else's the _star_ this time?"

"So you're convinced you'll be the heroine and savior of mankind this time? That the fight will be only yours? Girl, the demon world ain't an easy thing. Maybe the whole theme of the Blood Angel really has gone to your head already ..."

She makes an incensed sound. "So you _do_ underestimate me. Well, you know what? It's time somebody kicks your ass!"

Hera pulls out her sword.

"What? You want a fight? Here? Now?"

"Yup. Here and now", She says with a dark face.

"Well, basically I'm game for anything but don't you think that we should get rid of the main problem first? In the truest sense of the word ... We only lose time here otherwise ..."

"I see it differently. You can try entering the demon world. I won't let you in until you've defeated me."

"The winner's allowed to enter the demon world, or what?"

"Exactly."

Dante sights. "If you love failing that much, then here we go."

He also pulls out his sword.

"Seriously?", Lady says.

"Trish, you can, as always, take care of people's safety. We slowly know the island inside out. Maybe you'll check on Kyrie too sometime. And you, Lady, you can simply join her as you're already here. The demon party may start soon again, but it shouldn't take too long here ..." Dante says and while speaking the last few words, he puts on a nasty and self-confident grin which Hera then imitates.

"Why certainly!" Trish says, turning her back on both the opponents, as they can be called for the following fight, in order to move towards the forest.

"There's probably no better way for pastime ..." Lady says. "Oh hey, since your office is a mess 'cuz of the little _confrontation_ I had with Hera ... Could be expensive ... But now you have a new financial helper, as long as she's still willing to fork out money for you ..."

Therewith she joins Trish who grins due to Lady's statement. They do a chummy fist bump and then increase their pace until they finally disappear in the forest.

Dante sighs again and shakes his head as if he could also shake off the fact that his office has been destroyed.

"I wanna be fair. I'll pay for renovation in any case ... And of course also for redevelopment", Hera says.

"What?! The building itself is also fucked up?!"

"Only one window ... Can we get started now?"

"... By all means."

Immediately, Hera puts herself into the _Blood Angel mode_ and races lightning fast, holding her sword ready, towards Dante. He avoids Hera's attack with rolling to the side. Further sword blows follow which he can block, but Dante must prove hasty reaction. When their blades clash against one more time, he finds more strength and pushes her away. Distancing her a little bit further, Dante sets off for a hail of bullets. Hera brings her wings close to her body, seemingly hugging herself while doing so, and turns around her own axis in the air, escaping most shots. She can block the remaining bullets with her sword which she holds in front of her in a protective manner. Dante lets go of his ranged attack and rushes up to her with his blade raised. As being a temporary winged figure, it is easy for her to evade in the air. Then she conjures up several black and white spheres, whereby there are more black than white ones. Each have the size of a basketball and it seems as if energy would flow inside of them, matching the contrast of the spheres. She steers them wildly around with her hands and lets them speed towards Dante. He makes full use of his body to dodge the orbs. So he jumps up, dashes to the side, rotates in the air, and overturns or glides, when coming back to the ground, through the sand. All these movements are executed at a rapid pace by him since there are much too much spheres and they do not lag. In addition, the spheres deform after a certain time, stretch in length, in width or otherwise represent strange shapes, so that they steal space for the demon hunter to evade. Nevertheless, Dante remains untouched by them.

When Dante has dodged the last orb, Hera rushes towards him again. She is ahead because the last sphere blocked Dante's field of vision. He no longer manages to jump to the side, but by letting his body fall back to perform a flat bridge, Hera shoots over him. After this attack, Hera dissolves her figure, either intentionally or because her strength has been used up.

Despite releasing her powerful version, Hera does not grant the demon hunter any rest. Now she is the one who starts an attack from afar. The bullets of her rifle hit the sand in which Dante rolls to the side to escape. Compared to Dante's pistols, her shots are slower which is not unusual for a rifle. Still, she has a decent pace and lets the projectiles shoot out of the gun faster than a normal human could probably do. Maybe this is because her ranged weapon has been optimized accordingly and therefore has a shorter reload time.

At the appropriate moment, Dante returns to the air and from there counteracts with his shots which first hits her diagonally and then directly from above. Some spheres clash and immediately break off the flying direction of the opposing spheres. Hera imitates Dante's evasive skills and hurls her body through the area in a variety of ways in order to escape the projectiles that are threatening to race towards her. However, she also includes handstands and cartwheels in her _program of vividly executed movements_ for successful escapes.

Dante lands on the ground and attacks with his sword. Hera is just about to make her last evasive move and uses momentum to avoid this blow as well. Then she pulls out her sword, and the confrontation continues with a sword fight.

Since the beginning of the conflict between both of them, not a single second has passed in which they may have allowed their concentration to slacken; that much is the struggle characterized by dynamism and active capacity of reaction. This fact continues with the sword blows they are executing now. It is an unexpected kick by Dante against Hera's left foot that ultimately shows the first result for him when she falls to the ground.

"Seriously? Is it that easy to throw you for a loop? I didn't expect this considering your powerful start. Or is it that very reason why you run out of juice now?" He provokes.

Hera rises abruptly. She stares at Dante and right into his eyes. She appears extraordinarily concentrated as she squints. Dante looks questioningly. Suddenly he feels as if a strong force wants to try to snatch his sword out of his hands. He tightens the grip and turns his gaze to his sword-bearing hand. Eventually, his weapon slips out of his hand and finds its way into Hera's. Her tensed facial expression loosens and a satisfied grin crystallizes out of it.

"You'd be an asset to any pack of thieves!" Dante notes.

Hera, armed with two swords, is already storming at Dante. Alternately, she lets each weapon be used nimbly and agilely. Dante had to use his _spare weapon_ and fends off the attacks when not deciding to dodge. Hera does not stop hailing down several blows, and stings on him. Occasionally, she also performs elegant pirouettes to give her attacks more momentum and effect. Hera can no longer be impressed and stopped by simple defensive reactions executed with the body such as pushing away, for example; she now sees through them in advance. Furthermore, she does not allow Dante to flee upwards. Hera also jumps up every time he tries to rise up and immediately brings him back to the ground. She is so well coordinated with his movements as if there were a magnetism between them. This causes Dante to change his tactics.

He fakes a blow but jumps far back in an attempt to get out of Hera's reach. He swings the sickle of his weapon back and forth to keep the distance as Hera tries to follow him. He is about to trigger a firestorm, just as he did in the forest, but he gets interrupted. Once again Hera, being tireless, adheres to him. Eventually, he sees no other possibility than to free himself from restriction by the use of his _Devil Trigger_. Invoking this form finally pushes Hera a few steps back. However, it also causes her to let her _Blood Angel figure_ reappear.

This time Dante is fast enough, and he manages the firestorm. Hera has to flee far up to not be hit by the flames. Nevertheless, the accompanying wind pushes her back and whirls her around. As the firestorm subsides, Hera immediately falls into Dante's field of vision by means of a nosedive. She uses the two swords to stab at Dante from above. Dante can slide underneath her and wants to attack from ambush. However, Hera flips herself over in time in the air and crosses the two swords in parallel to successfully strengthen her defense. Dante dares to make further attacks with his melee weapon with each attack varying in execution. Sometimes he pricks with the bident, then he switches to the sickle and lets it speed from the right to left several times to then change the direction of movement and let the blade rush downwards or raise it up. All those chaotic blows can be retaliated by Hera using both of the swords, even though she still hovers in the air. Then Dante jumps up handling the weapon's limber function whereupon he can swirl the sickle and the bident as he wants. Hera can withstand this lightning fast series of attacks once again, following Dante's movements in parallel.

When the demon hunter makes a somersault, he takes a big swing with his weapon once more; this time not primarily for attacking, but to steal his sword back. Due to the sickle-shaped blade at one end of the weapon, he can hook it on the sword hilt and the cross-guard. He pulls strongly, grabs the hilt of his sword with his free hand and so it immediately returns to its owner.

He temporarily puts his sword away, even if _Rebellion_ is his favorite weapon. The _bident-sickle-weapon_ currently in use should be a better servant for the following counterattack as Hera once again lets these statically charged orbs emerge to create another obstacle for Dante. He indeed wants to try to push the spheres away with his weapon even though there is a danger of being hit by the energy inside of them. He whirls around his weapon won from the skeletal and horned demons like a nunchaku, and succeeds in knocking the orbs away from him without even feeling an electric shock or something like that. He doubts that this plan, if carried out with his human form, would have been as successful as it is now. Believing to have started a counterattack against Hera, because the spheres shoot directly back at her, he grins briefly to let his inner pride penetrate to the outside. She, however, proves the opposite to be the case since Hera has no intention of dodging the spheres; instead, she receives them gratefully by absorbing their energy. The result are invoked black arrows in innumerable quantities which now shoot at Dante. Again he fidgets with his weapon, this time much more hectic. It takes a certain perseverance to fend off the arrows that appear in infinite numbers. Nevertheless he succeeds thanks to his demonic form.

The second the last arrows get armed away by Dante, which then deflagrate, he storms towards Hera so that she is not able to undertake a subsequent attack. Dante's enormous speed, which becomes even clearer when rushing in Hera's direction, surprises her. He kicks in her stomach, therewith making her flying backwards through the air. When Hera regains control of herself, she darts back to Dante and just wants to hit him with _Soul_ as the demon hunter switches to his favorite weapon, takes a big swing, and lets the weapon thunder against _Soul_, fixing the point of her sword on the sandy ground. Hera flatters with her right wing particularly strong and lets it beat against Dante, making him stagger back. Now, _Soul_ is free for her again. Dante immediately reacts with a shot which appears as a red beam and with increased speed and strength due to his demonic form. The bullet hits _Soul_ directly, and snatches the sword out of her hand. Dante throws his blade after her. Hera stops the sword with pressed palms in front of her chest, raises her arms, and lets it rotate back to Dante with great momentum. He jumps into the air while somersaulting.

Hera rushes towards Dante with her claws ahead. Being near him, Dante reaches for her wrists, and so does the trial of strength begin. Both try to push the other one back. Dante uses his leg power to keep his firm footing; Hera utilizes the power of her wings. Several seconds pass in which the strength of the two is balanced. But then it happens and Hera's _Blood Angel form_ vanishes; undesirable, because due to its dissolution, Hera slams to the ground, directly in front of Dante's feet. For the sake of fairness, he also lets his powerful form dissolve.

Hera pulls a wry face and concentrates on making her breath more steady.

"Was that it?" Dante asks and squats down to Hera.

The answer follows right away as Hera punches her fist forward. It is enough for him to only shift his weight to the side and to bend his head, so that Hera's fist rushes past him, making her fall back to the ground. After another breath, she grabs her rifle, rolls to the side to get a bit further away from Dante, and when she lands on her back to aim at him, he uses his elbow to hit the barrel, and the weapon gets thrown away several feet from its bearer. Hera still does not want to calm down and raises her legs for a kick at Dante, but he then lets the weight of his upper body rest on his knees, therewith pressing the lower body of his opponent to the ground.

She flails around, sometimes using her flat hand, sometimes the fist, and hits his chest and his belly, and also tries to push him away. She growls angrily and curses, but all this does not bother him at all. Also his neutral facial expression on Hera tells nothing different. When letting her beat against his upper body for a short while, he reaches for her fists and forces Hera to stop this action as well.

"I think we can end the fight now", Dante says calmly.

Hera snorts and her angry, slightly wet eyes focus him. As she drops resistance against Dante's palm, he lets Hera's hands go and releases her lower body. He supports his right forearm on his knee of the same side. Hera lowers her upper body and lets it sink into the sand. The light drizzle trickles on her face and gently runs down over it. She has to blink so that no drops get into her eyes.

"It's not you weren't be well up on fighting", Dante says and gets up, "You just did it too impulsively, and one shouldn't be surprised about energy getting drained faster when going to the limit the whole time. Especially if you don't pace yourself. I was just like you back then, so I know what I'm talking about. That was actually the only flaw."

He collects all the weapons of the battlefield, except _Soul_, and puts his sword back into the holder on his back. With Hera's rifle in his hands, he moves towards her. She remains in the same position in the sand, and her empty gaze is still directed towards the sky. He gently puts the rifle next to her on the ground while saying,

"I'm afraid, but you gotta get your sword by yourself. I don't necessarily need any pain."

She looks to the side and watches Dante.

Then he passes her and steers in the direction of the blue beam when stopping immediately and looking over his shoulder.

"Hey, where's the book, actually?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I might need it _in there_." He turns to her. "Or do we hafta fight 'cuz of that book now?"

She slowly straightens up and cursory removes the sand off her clothes, especially out of her hair. Then she raises her hand and forms it as if she were reaching for something. The red book gradually emerges from nowhere. When Hera can grasp the writing on the spine, she throws it over to the demon hunter.

"That's how a bag gets unnecessary", He says after catching the book with one hand. "Thanks. I'll take good care of it." He stores the book in the large inside pocket of his coat.

"... I knew you have a brother ... or had. Depending on how you wanna see it. But I didn't assume your brother to be your _twin brother_. The story about Sparda and his sons was only told roughly on Alba Island, so I just got that casually. That's why I first thought of you when I saw the face in the water, and didn't consider it to be the one of your brother, Vergil", She says. "I hope for a good end we can live with."

"You get used to everything over time", Dante says briefly and continues on his route.

The blue beam begins to distort again and emits a slight laser-like noise which could not be heard the first time because of the turmoil; or one had simply not perceived it consciously.

"Maybe you should stretch your legs a little!" Dante calls out to her.

"I gonna make sure the gate of the Empire of the Gods gets opened! I'll find out how to do that! That will keep them busy even more, hopefully!"

Again he stops, and stares at her.

Is an opened gate of that world not also an advantage for Hera? Does not that push her life task ahead? What happens if both the _Demon World_ and the _Empire of the Gods_ are opened and connected to that of the humans? What happens if her life task is fulfilled? Does she has immeasurable power thereafter? What about the worlds and their beings itself? Do they _change_?

He indifferently shrugs his shoulders. "Do whatcha want! I can't stop you anyway! See ya later!"

"... Okay ..." She says perplexed since she must have expected resistance from him, picks up her weapon, and stores it in the appropriate place on her back. "Give them hell!"

She grins slightly and hurries into the forest.

Dante follows her course and shifts his gaze to the sea as it begins to bubble suspiciously.

Two huge hands formed like those of a crab shoot out of the water and hit into the ground. Dante has to jump far back to avoid being caught by the whipping water and the claws. Two gigantic, dissimilar heads follow, gradually rising out of the water. One of those resembles a snake and is blue and scaly, while the other is brown in color and has the characteristics of a dragon. The creature continues to grow in height until the upper body, which mainly consists of the brown and muscularly dragon-like part, becomes visible. Finally, the demon reveals being alive by snorting and hissing.

"Look at that little worm, _Kimera_!" The dragon's head says in a deep, demonic voice.

"Oh, _Drrrragoonnn_! That'ssssss unbelievable! The younger ssson of Sssparrrdaaa!" The snake's head mentions in a contrary voice timbre and scans Dante with its colorful eyes.

"Exactly! How lonely it must have been for him all these years without his brother! Shall we bear him company?!"

"I'd lovvvve to! Let'sssss plaaaaay!"

Dante's face reflects amusement. He has to put his head far back to be able to look at the demon. His arms are folded loosely.

"Another one who just don't wanna let me inside the demon world. Does one hafta pay for entrance these days, or what?"

"You have to pay, namely with your life!"

The demon wipes with its left crab pincer just above the sandy ground. Dante jumps up. Still in the air, he makes a double jump and a somersault afterwards when the demon also uses its right pincer to then pull both _hands_ back to its body. The dragon's head lowers and spits fire over the entire beach's range. Dante stays in the air and darts to the side. As the fire to his right yields, he comes back to the ground.

Dante triggers a hail of bullets dedicated to Dragon. Kimera is the one who reacts and lets her head dash down to Dante. She snaps at the demon hunter. Futile. Again, Dante has fled into the air and appears on the top of her skull. He balances his weight and takes several blows. Kimera shakes her head to get rid of Dante, but he can maintain his balance and runs up her long, articulated neck.

Shortly before arriving at the end of her neck, he jumps over to Dragon who spreads his mouth after Sparda's son. He snaps, without getting Dante between his pointed teeth. He was able to overcome gravity one more time and to jump onto Dragon's skullcap on which he now lets off steam. Dragon also wants to protect himself and shakes his head back and forth. Due to his short, thick neck, he is very restricted in his freedom of movement so that he manages even less than Kimera to let Dante fall down. Kimera wants to help out. She moves her head up to her demon brother and directs her wide opened mouth at Dante's back. Abruptly, he jumps up, making Kimera missing her target, and immediately dashes down, past Dragon's left half of his face. He reaches for a scale on Dragon's neck and gradually moves himself hand over hand down.

"You wanted to play. Then catch me if you can!" Dante says childishly.

Kimera follows Dante's path and winds her neck around Dragon's. She hisses, but her nimble tongue doesn't reach the likewise agile demon hunter. Reaching Dragon's other side of his face, he finally pushes himself off and jumps up since Kimera comes suspiciously close to him. He does a somersault and lands on the hump of the two-headed demon.

"What are you doing?!" Dragon complains to Kimera who has now wrapped her neck around his' completely, therefore strangulating him like a rope.

"I mussssst getttt himmm!" Kimera replies and lets her head grow further up.

Standing on the demon's hump, he waits for Kimera's arrival. Her eyes sparkle greedily as she gets the last few inches of distance over. She opens her mouth again, and that is the end of her _journey_. The length of her neck has been completely exhausted so that it is no longer enough to snatch at Dante. Dragon utters an agonizing sound that is more like a rattle than a hissing. Kimera seems to realize that her plan will not get her any further and so she wants to retreat when Dante jumps onto her skullcap and rams his sword into the right rear shoulder of the two-headed demon.

Dragon moans while Kimera remains neutral. As the appearance of the colossal demon reveals, it predominantly consists of Dragon which makes him having more potential pain points than Kimera.

The female part of the demon wants to pull back even further and tilts her head to the left side in an attempt to make Dante fall down and right into her hungry mouth. She, however, does not have meal yet. Instead, a thick and big scale of her gets stuck at Dante's sword, and so she is not being able to move back anymore.

Dante can locate another part of the demon's body which must belong to Kimera: The long tail, resembling a rattlesnake, which now seems to come alive. That body part wants to sweep Dante off Dragon's back by constant rattling. Despite the annoying pauses Dante has to take to escape the blows of the demon's tail, he uses the opportunity to hit Kimera's head being stuck at his sword with the nunchaku. Finally, Kimera gets more aggressive and can free herself from the unfavorable position. She, however, loses a scale that leaves wounded flesh on her left jaw.

The creature's tail gets suspiciously calm. Dante decides to momentary leave his sword behind and sprints off; running down the creature's back. His runway is bumpy due to the many scales, but otherwise free since there are no wings a dragon normally has. Below, the rough and thick scales become narrower, smoother, and tighter, so that Dante lets himself fall onto his buttocks and slides down the remaining distance.

"WOOOOhooooooooooooo!"

Dante races further towards the tail, glides over the arc that the tail forms, and darts up into the sky. High above, he floats in the air and lets his upper body fall back, particularly tilting his head back. He gets to see his surroundings in a _headlong perspective_. He pulls out his pistols to let another chaotic hail of bullets prevail. The bullets hit the back of the merged demon and land in their heads.

Kimera and Dragon were able to unknot themselves in the meantime. This prompts Kimera to show again the mobility of her neck by shooting her head up to Dante and snatching at him. Dante falls into _devil mode_ and quickly escapes diagonally down. Standing on Dragon's neck, he pauses there briefly, but only to get his sword back. He doesn't have more time there either as the demon's tail whips wildly around and feels its entire back for Dante. So the demon hunter keeps moving towards the beach and he gets followed by a water yet Kimera had shot out of her mouth. When wanting to descend more to the right to utilize Dragon's head as a protective barrier, Dragon uses his ability of spitting fire, thus preventing Dante from doing so. Dante pushes off in the air and jumps even higher. With this he avoids both the wet and the fiery attack. The water jet hits the mighty fireball Dragon has conjured up, and shoots it to the side. As a comet, it thunders into the sand. A brief vibration is triggered and a deep hole remains in the ground after the fireball dissolves. The surrounding sand has melted.

Already when Dante noticed that the comet would no longer pose a danger, he went near the demon. On the abdominal region, he distributes several blows which have an increased intensity and speed since the _devil mode_ still continues. The demon's crab pincers hurtle down on Dante. The demon hunter does a somersault backwards to then darting forward again as the path is cleared for him. His blade sticks in the demon's body all the way in. Afterwards, he pulls it out again in order to let further sword blows take place. Again the being uses his arms for another attack; this time its pincers are open. They want to get him, and to divide his body. Dante jumps back and forth wildly to escape them. Chasing begins, and it gets more difficult for Dante when Dragon creates wall of fires with his mouth. Dante withstands both dangers, but this costs him all his devil power so that he has to let go of the _Devil Trigger_.

As the fire extinguishes and the pincers releases him, Kimera's head rapidly moves down to Dante. She unveils her throat, her two giant, pointed teeth, which are now even more visible, and her long, reptilian tongue that wraps around Dante's body tightly. He shakes his body in an attempt to get rid of Kimera's tongue, but he does not succeed. Demonstrating her superiority, Kimera slowly pulls her tongue back towards her, and brings him closer to her open mouth. He trots through the sand and would surely fall down if his upper body was not that strongly fixed by her tongue. Dragon gives a shabby laugh. Dante jumps into the air several times, but he is always brought back to the ground. When he jumps again, however, he can manage to roll his body sideways and to land on his boots again. With this he has twisted Kimera's tongue. He needs more attempts to continue this procedure, but gradually Kimera's tongue twists even further. The female part of the demonic colossus squints which shows that the feeling of a twisted tongue seems not to be very pleasant. Finally, she dissolves fixation and the moment she wants to retract her tongue back into her mouth without prey, Dante pulls out his sword and cuts the tongue. A loud scream elicits from her.

Dragon takes revenge by using fire one more time. Dante must use the entire beach area to escape the fire. Just in the moment as he runs out of space, since it seems as if the whole beach were burning, he uses the proximity to Kimera's head, which she had actually lowered to hit him with more water jets and to hurl him away, and jumps onto it. He takes some more leaps and has to push himself off in the air several times in order to approach his target - Dragon's head. Eventually, Dragon brings his head closer to Dante as he makes another attempt to get him between his teeth.

However, the demon hunter can use one of the many pointed teeth to go further up. In the air, he takes a big swing with _Rebellion_ and hits the demon's left eye. He whines and shoots his head upwards. Dante dodges with a backward somersault. Immediately, Dragon lets gorgeous flames follow. Dante manages to escape when pushing off the air again, thus gaining height. The demon hunter activates his devil powers and darts towards the head of the masculine demon. Now it is the second eye that suffers damage.

"You fucking bastard!" Dragon screams and shakes his head wildly while spitting fire at the same time.

Dante has moved down for his protection, but Dragon continues attacking. He also uses his pincers in a desperate attempt to hit Dante. Dragon's actions are completely chaotic and uncontrolled. Dante's plan seemingly has succeeded; Dragon has gone blind.

"What haavvvvve you donnnne to himmmm?!" Kimera utters horrified. "You will attttonnnne ffffor thattttt! ... And ffffor my woundeddd tttttongue!"

In addition to all of Dragon's offensive and defensive actions, Kimera uses her limber neck and mouth. Dante is forced to move down onto the sand as he is deprived of space in the air and other attack options. Now it does not make sense anymore to maintain his devilish form, so he dissolves it. Standing on the ground, Dante still spends a lot of time dodging, but down there it is much more pleasant than in the air as he has a greater distance to the oversized demon. Dragon does not want to stop executing irrational attacks and so it happens that Kimera's head gets struck by his pincers.

"Ow! Mind whattt you're doooiiiing!"

Dragon, however, continues and hits Kimera's head one more time and then even more often. Eventually, Kimera has enough of this and bites his neck as a reflex.

"Aaaaaaahhh! Are you crazy?!" He complains.

"Then ssssstop thaaaatttt!"

This little argument between both of them suits Dante perfectly. So they are distracted and he can let off steam on the demon's body. The demon hunter now wants to administer to the pincers which all too often have blocked his path. He hurries to the left pincer, since it seems to be closer to him, jumps on it, and makes his way up until the end of Dragon's forearm. Arriving there, he switches to his _Devil Trigger_ and rams the sickle of his second weapon in it strenuously several times. Dragon moans and so Kimera can locate Dante. Kimera's head shoots in his direction, and right in this moment, the demon hunter makes his last blow, causing separation of Dragon's forearm that thunders into the sand. This time Dante is not going to get carried away into an evasive maneuver. He remains active and when Kimera's opened mouth is about one and a half inches away from him, he jumps up and bumps the tip of the sickle into Kimera's skullcap. Kimera screams. This causes Dragon to tilt his head in the direction from where he heard Kimera's voice, and to release another _fiery greeting_ from a distance. Since Dragon cannot exactly locate the Sparda son's position due to his blindness, the flames miss Dante. He is now on Kimera's neck, using the same tactic as before. Five powerful blows with the sickle are enough to elicit a final and particularly agonizing scream from Kimera as her head crashes to the ground.

"Kimera?! Where is the pipsqueak?!"

Dante runs along Kimera's sagging neck as he jumps towards the demon's upper body. There, he pushes off several times to gain height.

"Kimera?!"

Being on the demon's chest, he runs further up to then make a wide jump to Dragon's head.

"I'm here!" Dante replies while flying through the air, pulling out his second weapon as well as his main, favorite one _Rebellion_ and rams both blades into Dragon's skull.

Even if Dragon makes a terrible sound, that does not mean he is finished yet. His head seems to be more robust, but Dante immediately dares the next attempt. This time he relies on his second weapon only and jumps down to ram the sickle into the demon's flesh again - into the lower jaw. He swings his legs back and forth, gaining more momentum and strength to have his weapon cut through the flesh. The demon seems to be paralyzed by all the pain since he no longer commits attacks but is only screaming and hissing. Dante brings the blade further and further down, even if this happens cumbersome due to the demon's robust skin.

It is raining blood behind him. When he reaches the demon's neck, he notices how the demon's right pincer begins to sink down and finally stings into the ground. The demon's tail unexpectedly appears in Dante's field of vision and sweeps the demon hunter away. The upper body of the gigantic being falls half forward. However, Dragon can still support himself with his last ounce of strength on his remaining pincer. He wheezes and the blood beneath his mouth flows down, leaving several puddles of blood in the sand. Smoke comes out of his mouth. The demon seems to have run out of _firepower_. Dante rolls through the sand and jumps onto his feet. His landing had not been soft which made him lose the mode of his higher form as a result. After quickly wiping off the grains of sand from his clothes, he hurries to the demon and to his weapon which is still stuck in the demon's neck.

Dante jumps on Kimera's dead head lying in the sand and uses it as a catapult to approach his weapon, and to complete his cut. He clings to the bident of his weapon, achieved in the past, and through his body weight it is now easier for him to bring the sickle further down. The demon's neck is slit further on until Dante reaches the sternum area. There, the blade stops due to the demon's thicker skin. The whipping of the being's tail is of no use for him now. Its length is not enough to reach Dante who is on the front side of the demon. So the demon continues sagging and makes Dante coming closer to the ground. Bringing his boots onto the sand, he finally pulls his weapon out of the demon's flesh, splashing even more blood.

Dante puts his weapons away and climbs the colossus. Arriving at the creature's neck, he walks over it to his head and finally to his snout. Dragon snorts heavily and smoke rises from his nostrils. It feels steamy for Dante.

"I'd say you lost the game."

Dante jumps down, makes a somersault, grabs _Ivory_, and fires a shot which lands directly in the demon's throat.

Dragon's mouth opens even wider while he hisses and roars wildly. He straightens up, but tilts backwards then. As he splashes into the water, a gigantic fountain grows up, retreating back into the blue after some time and making the demon disappear. Now the remains of the demon lying on the beach, the severed pincer, Kimera's front part of her tongue, and her head, dissolve into thin air.

Putting away his gun and having solid ground underneath his feet again, although it is not too stable because of the sand, Dante wipes the palms of his hands as a sign that the work is done.

"Let's see what else the demon world has to offer. It's been a long time ..." Dante says to himself and trudges through the sand and towards the blue beam.


	13. Mission 13 - Càecilia

**Mission 13**

_Càecilia_

* * *

This island is also overcast by darkness. An unfamiliar scene for Hera. So far, she has experienced the sky above her home island to be rather cloudless and with bright sunlight. Only if the plants on this island needed irrigation, some water drops would fall to afterwards let the rain stop as soon as their thirst is quenched.

On the mountain range in front which she is standing and that builds the only unevenness on the green meadow in this region, a shadow appears abruptly. This makes her startle for a moment, but her mind relaxes quite rapidly when she can assign the silhouette to a particular person - or, to describe it more clearly, to a particular being.

"Do you always feel like creeping up on people like that?" She says, turning towards Savo.

His sudden appearance reminds her of the situation at that time; the first encounter she had with him in the _Sanctuary of the Blood Angel_.

"Please apologize, it is not my intention to scare you every time", Savo replies.

"_Scare_ ..." Hera repeats with a smile. "Then you should practice for the future how to approach people ... You've summoned me to this place 'cuz we can open the Empire of the Gods form here?"

"Indeed. Alba Island is the Island of the Gods. On this island, there once had been an angel statue which represented a significant connection to the Empire of the Gods. Only a few fragments are left of it today. I am very pleased, by the way, that you finally decided to pursue your quest, and meet me here."

"... Wait. Do you mean that little bit of marble over there near the parking lot?"

"Yes, I do mean that little bit of marble. These are the remains of that said angel statue. We baptized it in the name of _Càecilia_. She reached for miles and miles into the sky and dominated even the mountains. Nothing that was anchored to the ground at the time reached higher than this statue. But Càecilia not only served to open and close the Empire of the Gods; she was also a sign to the people that they were not alone in their resistance against the demons. So the demons had their tower Temen-ni-gru which was a sign of their strength, and also served as a portal to the demon world, of course. The angels had Càecilia, on the other hand".

"And since you closed the Empire of the Gods with Soul 2,000 years ago and then opened it again, you can help me with my plan."

"Exactly. The power of the Blade of Souls is furthermore a vital component."

"But back then, that angel statue was whole. How do you expect it to work _now_?"

"The demons took Càecilia from us by destroying her after the fall of the angels", Savo says, turning his body slightly away from her to look behind him.

A small troop of demons is revealed for Hera. They are about to approach them.

"And it will be exactly these devilish creatures through whom we will recover her today. Completely rebuilt."

The sky becomes even darker in some places as more demons emerge.

"They have made their way from Fortuna through the water and the air. All other islands will also feel the crisis of the open demon world."

"... That's why we need reinforcements from the Empire of the Gods as soon as possible. "You better tell me how _they're_ supposed to help us build that statue."

"We need their souls. Now it is time for you to learn to fully master Soul's power. After the demons are vanquished, you are going to capture their souls and seal them inside of your blade. Later we will use their energy to rebuild the statue."

"And how do I do that?"

"Just the way you use all of your Blood Angel skills. With concentration."

"Well, then ..." Hera says and sprints off.

The demonic crawlers near the harbor are more agile than expected. They seemed to be slow like a turtle but as soon as it becomes dangerous for them, they gain speed. To that, there are the flying demons that support their sidekicks. After a short time, however, Hera gets the hang of it and knows how to handle the different types. First she devotes herself to the flying demons. Already here she uses the power of her mind to hold the beings in the sky. They flutter with their wings, but are unable to move forward at all. As if a dark force would hold against them. This makes them the perfect targets for Hera's rifle. Now and then she has to stop aiming at the flying creatures as the demons on the ground demand her attention, but a few kicks and blows with her rifle quickly clarify the situation.

The first flying creature dissolves. As mentioned by Savo, she concentrates on this demon to get its soul. However, it does not work. She devotes herself to the next creature that is also in the process of dissolving. Also here the attempt to take the soul fails.

"That's impossible!" Hera grumbles and has to switch her attention to the crawling creatures as they snap at her.

When she has brought the beings on the ground to a distance, she looks up at the sky. The flying creatures have disappeared.

"You must also feel the connection to Soul and your mind. In addition, you bring the concentration on the defeated demon whose soul needs to be captured. To focus your attention on two points at once is not easy and requires practice. This is even already the supreme discipline. Especially, when the battlefield around you begins to get hectic."

To Hera's side, Savo floats high up in the air, holding his lance ready.

"You do not need to be upset if it does not work out at first. Through the open demon world, there are enough demons for practice."

With tensed face, Hera puts back her rifle and pulls out _Soul_. She increases her fighting speed and does not give the creature a chance to evade. As she kills two creatures at the same time, she stops and focuses on the creatures that are about to die. To concentrate better on _Soul_, she holds it in front of her. Having brought the sword into her field of vision, she squints her eyes to keep sharpening her senses. She feels that something is different this time. She perceives the heavy presence of a dark force, and another one; an opposing one.

A demon wants to attack Hera, who is absorbed in her concentration, when Savo interferes with his lance and pierces the being. This tears Hera out of focus and she loses the felt connection.

"Continue", Savo says while he keeps the remaining demons at bay.

Immediately, she brings the two demons selected for her training into her field of vision again and tries to repeat the procedure as best as she can. Surprisingly, she succeeds in restoring this feeling of connection, but this time the feeling is weaker. One of the two demons has already dissolved completely while the process of dying is still ongoing for the next one. The second body also disappears from Hera's field of vision, but instead she sees something else: at the spot where the demon lay, a transparent figure is moving which can only be perceived through a brown contour; its form corresponding to the dead being. Her surroundings seem to have become calm for her, although Savo is in the midst of battle against more demons that have arrived in the meantime. The existence to be seen for Hera floats towards her and gets a bit distorted. Finally, it shoots in her direction and, accompanied by bright light, straight into _Soul_. The powerful thrust makes Hera stagger backwards. She takes a few deep breaths to recover from the strenuous practice, and finally her environment begins to become more rapid for her; as if she had been in an intermediate world for a short time and had now returned to the real world.

"Very good", Savo praises. "You have captured your very first soul by this. You can keep practicing. We need more."

"How many?"

"The statue will reveal that to us later, but I am sure it will not be just a few."

About a dozen slippery, spiky, snake-like demons are crawling around the ground with more than half of them trying to ambush Hera. She, however, refuses to be attacked and retaliates with _Soul_ by making a sweeping blow. The remaining creatures snap at Savo who is in the air. It is easy for him to evade since he only has to raise higher in the air with the use of his wings. From up there, he pushes his lance down and spikes a creature. More demons arise from nature far away. Hera knows this type from Fortuna Island as well. They have the shape of a bear, and race towards the battlefield on four paws. Just as these beings are approaching, a demon is dying in the form of a deformed cobra. As soon as Hera becomes aware of it, she hastily approaches the dissolving demon and holds her blade in front of her. Again, Savo backs her up. This time she succeeds much faster and easier in catching the being's soul.

"Excellent."

When the next being is destroyed, Hera also seals this soul into her blade.

"You are a quick study, but are you also able to observe the battle during the _soul-capturing-process_?" Savo says and quits attacking, moving higher into the air again. He made his lance disappear as if it had been swallowed by the void, and his arms are crossed. This posture alone clearly shows that Savo is not going to intervene anymore.

Hera continues to wield her weapon, and now has to deal with the bear-like creatures on top of that which makes the fight more interesting for her again. Another crawling creature dissolves, but the remaining demons keep her busy so that the soul of the dead demon can escape. Another chance for catching a soul arises; this time it is one of the more colossal beings that loses its life. Especially this type of demon makes a more special impression on her, so that she _really_ wants to capture this soul with her blade.

Directing the point of her sword at the demon, she brings her free right hand back so that her arms form a line, and spreads her fingers wide apart as if she wanted to push something away. Then she moves her head to her outstretched hand. The other demons start assaulting but crash against _something_. They bump into a wall which is not there, or rather not visible to them. Maintaining her invisible protection, Hera turns her head back to the dissolving demon and ties in with her force of concentration. Her plan works, and so the soul gets sealed into Hera's blade. With that, her conjured up defense disappears , and the demons, that were literally stuck to the invisible wall of protection, lunge at her.

She swings her sword back and forth and uses her strong legs to defend herself against the demons surrounding her. It takes a short moment until she regains control of the situation but when this happens, demon dying continues.

Once again she wants to build a protective wall to catch the doomed souls without stress; this time, however, her magic fails. The remaining demons attack her while three souls ready to be caught rise up and threaten to disappear. Hera makes her kicks and sword strikes get even more intense. She does not want to miss any more souls. When the beings roll away and to the side, she can barely devote herself to the three souls that are only faintly recognizable. She imaginary holds on to them with all of her concentration. It is much harder for her to tame the souls this time, but after a while she manages it, and the souls draw themselves into her sword.

The remaining demons that are still in control over their bodies have already made their way to Hera's back at a rapid pace. She jumps into the air and does somersaults several times. In doing so, the other beings are cut up by her sword. Finally, these beings are destroyed as well, and Hera deprives their souls.

"Fabulous", Savo says, breaking the silence that had arisen from the victory over the demons. "You may have noticed for yourself how much power it takes to capture souls, so that it gets only more exhausting for you to use your other Blood Angel abilities. Be wise with your magic and use it well, especially, as long as it is not fully developed."

"Thanks for all the sage advices you guys always have left for me", Hera snarls.

"Let us exploit the moment of stillness and build the statue with the souls you have already captured. The next demon horde is going to appear soon."

Speaking these words, Savo floats to the huge and broken marble platform as Hera follows.

"The summoning of caught souls functions in the same way as capturing them. It always requires utmost concentration. Connect yourself with those doomed souls. They are your servants and therefore will obey your commands. Now, tell them what to do, _Blood Angel_."

Hera takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. With opening her eyes, she lets a well audible exhalation follow, and wields _Soul_. Every blow she takes makes a soul shoot out of the sword and disappear into the marble platform. After transferring every soul from the blade into the platform, it can be seen how the marble begins to expand and grow upwards. A square pedestal finally becomes visible as well as the statue's human feet which protrude from a long garment. The pedestal has made its way through the asphalt of the parking lot and also takes up almost the entire green space in the front area. Hera had to run far to the back to avoid being hit by the expanding marble. She walks the length of one side of the pedestal and needs about 33 generous footsteps to reach the end.

As if from nowhere, more demons appear and the noise level increases. This time it is about a double dozen skeletal demons, carrying thorn bushes in the form of two wings on their backs. Their bones are pitch-black and look very ashy in texture. They have a crooked and tired gait, as if the thorny wings were far too much weight for them. Their bony arms swing limply back and forth.

"Get us every last soul, Hera."

"... And you gonna butt out of this, or what?"

"I do not want to ruin your practice."

Hera sighs. "I'd say the same thing if I were you."

"If you should need my help ..."

"No, no, thanks. I can do that."

As one being after the other gets brought down and has to leave its doomed soul to Hera, a proud grin appears on the face of the _Blood Angel_.

"You seem to have learned to control your body and mind for the most part. Very well. That is the basic prerequisite for victory over your enemies. Those who are able to control themselves can easily control others. Control is power", Savo says.

Hera had managed to continue the physical battle against her opponents and at the same time to capture released and doomed souls. She literally performed kind of a dance; that elegant and coordinated her actions and movements were made - although she got exhausted when trying to do the exact same thing just a few moments ago. It seemed as if her body had developed a life of its own, but it was in perfect harmony with Hera's spirit. That must be it - the ability to focus attention on two points equally.

The statue continues to grow upwards, but stops at the shoulders of a female figure. The woman is represented with a loose, long dress, having many wrinkles. Her hands are folded in prayer and close to the belly, leaving space between her thumbs and index fingers as if something belonged in there. The half of two wings are also visible on her back.

The next horde of demons hastens to Hera as if they would want to get killed and bereaved of their souls by her which ultimately happens. So it comes that the statue shows itself in its entirety, added by a soft and friendly face of a woman which Hera can only recognize to some extent from below, long, wavy hair reaching to the middle back, and the rest of her gorgeous wings. It must be a holy power that holds the statue together because normally it would tilt to the side, collapse or crush the ground beneath it as far as it reaches over the mountains and as heavy as it must be.

"What now?" Hera asks.

"Look closely at the statue's pedestal."

Hera marches around the base and has the feeling of taking a trip around the world. Arriving at the front part of the statue, she recognizes a star-shaped and deep notch. It has the same form as her sword's point; that is what she notices when letting her gaze wander from the pedestal to her weapon. Then she looks sideways to Savo who went back to the floor in the meanwhile. He nods.

Abruptly, Hera turns around, holding her sword in front of her face for protection. She had noticed the presence of the noiseless demon that, equipped with an arrow in its hand, was about to attack her. The arrowhead bounces off her weapon and the demon staggers sideways to Savo. Being near him, the demon takes the opportunity for another attack, and stabs in his belly region. The arrow directly penetrates the already existing hole Hera had _given_ him during their duel.

"So it is good for something after all", The _Sinful Angel_ comments and pushes the demon away with the length of his lance. "This one ought to be interesting for you to keep."

"I was just thinking the same. Well then, get outta my way!"

Savo raises into the air.

This demon also comes from the family of skeletal creatures. However, it seems to represent a female version. Long, black, and frizzy hair sprouts from the middle part of the demon's skull and reaches to the left elbow joint. The right skull has no hairs at all since it is shattered. Another indication for the demon to be a feminine one is the tattered dress. It goes loosely from the right shoulder down to the chest, connects from the pelvis to the rest of the fabric and ends at the two kneecaps. The color has an aubergine shade, but this is only difficult to see because the garment is so much covered with dirt that the dress looks more like brown and black. A dirty and worn bandage is tied around its mouth. The demon is about five heads taller than Hera and presents itself with an upright standing position after regaining its balance from Savo's thrust.

"With your figure and size, you'd make a good model", Hera starts provoking. "But your styling is just awful!"

Abruptly the demon nocks an arrow on the bow it holds in its right hand and shoots it at Hera powerfully. Again Hera blocks this attack only by using _Soul_. The demon repeats the attack from a distance, but this time it is fast enough to let three arrows shoot at Hera directly one after the other. Hera hurries in the direction of the demon and strikes the arrows away with her blade while running. More arrows shoot in her direction which she can evade with a roll forward, and the arrows fly over her.

Having brought herself closer to her opponent by rolling on the ground, she uses her right foot to lift herself up, making a side blow, coming from the left, in parallel. The demon blocks the blow with its right forearm and attacks her with an arrow which it has summoned in its previously empty hand. Hera can move aside in time so that the demon stabs into the void. From this position, Hera wants to hit the being's cervical vertebrae, but, again, the demon blocks the blow with the hand holding the bow. The next arrow invoked by the demon rushes directly towards Hera's belly region. A few inches before the arrow bores into her flesh, Hera brings her hand on the shaft of the arrow just before the demon's hand and uses resistance. While the demon continues to try to stab the arrow into Hera's abdomen and Hera fights against it, she rams her sword into the forearm bone of the creature in parallel.

The blade hits the bone violently, but it gets not chopped off as Hera intended. Only a slight notch remains there. The demon knocks Hera to the ground and still wants to let the arrow penetrate her abdomen. However, a powerful blow from Hera is enough, and the arrow stings in the grass a bit farther away from her. The demon does not want to summon another arrow for the time being. First, the demon uses the bow to keep Hera on the ground, pressing it against her chest. In the hope that Hera cannot defend herself in this way, the creature now comes back to its routine, invoking another arrow to give this kind of attack another try. Hera thwarts the demon's plans by switching into her _Blood Angel_ form.

She rises up into the air and immediately attacks the reeling demon. The creature's bones do not break, even in this powerful version of Hera; they only suffer cuts that are a bit deeper than the notch Hera caused the creature a few moments ago. Finally, the demon interrupts Hera's attack series with a hit of its elbow and its weapon. Putting Hera about one foot at a distance with this, the demon gains momentum with its weapon as the bowstring at the bottom loosens, extends towards Hera, and wraps around her body and wings. Hera being restricted in her movement is forced to go down to the ground. She shakes her body and tries to free herself from the situation, but the string tightens too much around her and cuts her flesh which has become even brighter due to the _Blood Angel_ shape. The demon shoots its bow-holding hand upwards and takes Hera with it in the air, letting her thunder to the ground with her right hip ahead after.

This makes the bowstring loosen from Hera and shorten it, so that it finally connects to the bow again. The demon continues its attacks and fires several arrows in a row. Having dissolved the _Blood Angel_ form in the meantime, Hera rolls away, escaping every arrow that is racing towards her - even if only scarce - so that the arrows sting into the grass, marking her _escape route_. In no time at all, Hera is able to erect the invisible barricade she used in the previous fight, and the other arrows bounce off it.

"... 'Cuz you like arrows that much ..." Hera says and conjures up similar black projectiles like those of the demon to let them rain at the creature from all sides and in seemingly endless numbers.

This keeps the demon in check and Hera can use the opportunity to run towards the creature, wanting to make more sword blows on it.

So far, she cannot not tell to have heard a single sound from the demon, as if it was mute and not capable of making any sound at all.

Among other body parts, Hera hits the neck vertebrae of the demon several times and so it happens that the brown-haired young woman can see the first great damage to the creature: The neck bends to the side, bouncing back and forth, with that its hairs.

The demon wields the bow around to get Hera at a distance and to avoid further injuries. The demon makes another arrow appear. Another one, another one, and a last one. All those arrows finally combine to form a long weapon whereby the arrowheads sting into the front end of the other arrows. In the end, a kind of lance is created which, due to the protruding arrowheads, has obvious thorns, making the weapon dangerous not only because of its sharp point. The demon brings the bow closer to the lance that has just been created and thus gets sucked into the weapon until it has completely disappeared from the demon's right hand. When the devil strikes a blow with the lance and a string is extending, it becomes clear that the bow must have melted with the lance. Several times the creature whips the weapon, resembling a special fishing rod in appearance, and the string dances wildly on the ground; on the hunt for Hera.

However, she cannot be caught a second time. Quick evasive maneuvers help her to remain untouched. In a favorable moment she stomps with her boot and fixes the end of the string. Then Hera wants to fire a few shots with her powerful rifle, but the demon pulls his weapon back with a jerk, and she loses her footing. The demon controls the string so that it wraps around Hera's ankle, and she gets pulled closer to the creature.

While Hera is being dragged near the devil, she nevertheless uses her rifle and shoots at the creature, hitting its bones. Every shot becomes more intense for it the closer she gets to the demon. Standing just in front of it, she devotes her last shot to the string. It gets severed, and that grants Hera freedom. Not only that, but the bullet has also continued its way and has drilled into the demon's left ankle. It buckles. Nevertheless, it continues to pull the string into the weapon and moves its sharp point down.

Only the grass gets hit. Hera had rolled to the side and now jumps up for another attack which means the loss of the demon's skull. The blade of her melee weapon, which she had switched to, had been hacked directly into the place hit before at the cervical vertebrae by her. The skull rolls along the green ground and when it stops, only the black, long hairs are recognizable.

However, the demon does not stop its attacks. Wildly he fidgets back and forth with his lance. Hera jumps back, lowers her body, and brings herself out of reach of the demon. Biding an uncontrolled blow from the demon, she strikes out powerfully with her weapon. The demon's weapon gets struck away, leaving the creature defenseless for an attack of Hera against its thorax. The devil's clothing, which has been badly affected from the beginning anyway, gets now torn even more. The bones, however, remain stable, contrary to expectations. Nevertheless, Hera lets her blows last. The thorax still remains whole and since the demon already tries to interfere again by feeling its bony and cold fingers for Hera's body, she puts her sword hastily between two ribs and pushes its grip down. Due to the pressure, the upper rib breaks and flies to the side. The demon now drops forward, and Hera's sword gets caught on the thorax. She herself lies on the ground with the demon as ballast.

The bones of the thorax press against hers. Uncontrollably, the demon paddles with his arms. Finally, Hera uses her _Blood Angel_ form again, rises into the air together with the demon at the sword's point, throws the creature to the ground, making the demon land on its backbones, and hits the thorax with wild and powerful blows. The final blow bursts the ribcage so that all the bones and ribs fly through the air and can be found scattered wildly on the grass. The demon's clothes have also been torn to shreds. The remaining frame of the demon fidgets on the ground.

Hera's _Blood Angel_ form has already vanished when she pulls out two ribs out of her upper body. After the destruction of the demon's thorax the ribs had hit her waist and her belly region and bored into her flesh.

However, this is more than just a secondary matter for her, as the soul of the demon gradually appears, thus she gets the chance of an interesting catch. She concentrates her mind and manages to lock the doomed soul into her sword. The remaining skeleton of the demon as well as the skull then reduce to ashes.

"Your very first demon you can now specifically use in battle", Savo comments. "Are you all right otherwise?"

"Sure. She was a little bitch towards the end."

Ultimately, Hera finds herself standing in front of the pedestal again.

"If it was you fighting with that sword back then, how come I had to get it out of the ice behind the waterfall? Besides, I thought the sword belongs to the Blood Angel exclusively? How were you able to fight with it?" Hera asks, hesitating to let the sword sink into the hollow.

"It was my task to bequeath it to you. Precisely because the Blade of Souls belongs to the Blood Angel. I was born on loan with this weapon and kept it in the place where you were supposed to find it again. The weapon's full potential is only released through you."

"Okay ...?" Hera says only and finally puts the sword into the star-shaped opening.

The sword fits perfectly, and a clicking sound is to hear. Hera has to let go off the sword's hilt since it rotates together with the hollow. High above, the space in the hand of the statue gets filled by a huge sword which appears bit by bit and also seems to be made out of marble. The sword's point is directed towards the sky.

"Now you can take Soul again", Savo says.

Hera follows Savo's words and pulls _Soul_ back to herself.

A glaring light shoots out of the point of the gigantic sword and disappears into the black clouds of the sky. Nothing happens for a short time, but then, when Hera starts getting skeptical, the sky clears up and the sun reveals itself. Thus Alba Island shines in the brightness that Hera is used to from her home island. Furthermore, a concentration of white light forms in the sky which expands more and more. When the light has built a shape of a huge circle, masses of white Savo-like figures shoot out. More demons emerge on the ground which are soon destroyed by the creatures coming out of the bright light. Their wings, being white contrary to that of Savo, carry them further into the distance, across the sea, and far away from Alba Island.

"Wow", Hera says astonished.

"It is done. The angels are no longer mere memory", Savo says. "Come, let us enter that holy world."

"What? Why?"

"Are you not interested in seeing the Empire of the Gods form the inside?"

"Yeah, I am, but it's not an appropriate time for a trip right now."

"The timing could not be better. Follow me", Savo says and moves up into the air, closer to the shining portal in the sky, and the _Empire of the Gods_.


	14. Mission 14 - Demonic Games

**Mission 14**

_Demonic Games_

* * *

As kind of a piecework, he eliminated all the demons that stood in his way. He did not expect anything else than such a _warm welcome_ by the dark creatures. After all, this is the demon's home.

He got to see various dreadful and deserted places. It started with a terrible reflection of Fortuna's beach right after entering the demon world. The water was blood-red, if that liquid was expected to be water anyway, and the whole beach was dark and stony. There was nowhere green nature to see. Only leafless and bent trees. The sky had a dark green to black color.

Dante continued to trudge through fog and, from then on, could no longer recognize his surroundings; not even his own lower body. Of course the first Demons had to show up at that very moment. Despite the severely restricted field of vision, Dante could still rely on his sense for the demons' presence, so that it was not possible for the beings to sneak up on him; even if they had not made a telltale sound. Furthermore, he knows how to handle his weapons blindly, and he is aware of his strength. Thus he succeeded in mastering the first challenge - to eliminate all demons.

When the fog lifted, he continued walking through a dark tunnel that seemed to him as if he had been in a narrow cave. The faster he moved towards the white light at the other end, the further he seemed to move away from the brightness. On top of that, it appeared as if the tunnel was getting longer instead of shorter. Here, too, he was visited by about a dozen demons. Despite the seemingly endless grotto, he walked on and on, and suddenly the ground beneath his feet cracked open.

Soaked in red liquid, he sank deeper and deeper. That moment confirmed him that the red liquid of the sea was in reality not water but blood. Even though he can remember his bloody dive, in retrospect, he is not sure if it was a real event because in the moment when he felt the blood sea's hard ground underneath his buttock and legs, his red surrounding had disappeared and his clothes as well as his skin had no reddish residue at all.

From then on he found himself sitting on a black and sandy platform. Digging his fingers deeper into the ground, he thought feeling ashes. He stood up and cleared his lower body from black soot with his hands. There was wind around the platform and its intensity increased more and more. His hair and clothes reacted to this movement in the air and danced along. He looked around and then up. As if he was caught inside of a tornado that just did not want to carry him away for some reason - that was the effect the moment had for him. The gray force raging around him got narrower and trapped him on the platform; a perfectly unfavorable situation for another demon fight as it started immediately.

All kinds of skeletal demons he had ever seen in his lifetime were the first to haunt him. The _Demons of the Seven Deadly Sins_ and the new _Emotion Demons_, as Lady baptized them, were united. The whole platform was abruptly full of them and so he slaughtered his way through the masses; just as he had done it on the beach of Fortuna after the opening of the demon world, only this time as the beings' only opponent.

After countless blows, jumps, and shots on his part, the horde was indeed defeated and his surroundings showed the same emptiness as in the beginning. The tornado, which still persisted, was the only disturber of the peace. Before he knew it, a huge, mud-colored creature stormed out of it: The demon from the _Blood Angel's Sacred Site_ that he left to Hera after he had weakened him and that got the wonderful nickname _Sharky_ through her.

It opened his mouth wide and came suspiciously close to Dante. As he ran towards the demon with _Rebellion_ in his right hand, the tornado narrowed and pulled the two of them into itself.

The whole environment was then distorted. When he looked down, it seemed as if all the colors had been drawn into the negative. The shark-like demon had disappeared to boot. He moved across the bright blue floor and had to shift his weight to the right side to avoid being pulled to the left; as if the ground was sloping. His distorted surroundings which also showed a bright light blue that was not very pleasant to the eye - especially due to the dark blue in the background which made the light color shine even more intensely - barely showed the outline of a city. He could not assign the metropolis to any place in the human world, though, or he just did not recognize it because of its bizarre appearance.

Dante moved further and further and followed the glaring path. The buildings, appearing in a negative color, grew denser and denser and higher. The demon hunter had to shift his weight more to the right side in order not to stray from the path, but after a while he simply was not able to keep up with the moving path. As he had stopped and the path had moved on without him, he finally realized that his surroundings slowly turned and that it would not have mattered where he was walking since he did not lose his footing anyway.

Meanwhile, the ground consisted of buildings when he continued on his way. He was not sure if he was making headway or if it were the buildings that automatically passed him by. Little by little, however, his surroundings changed. The streets changed and the buildings lined up in different ways. Dante did not allow himself to be distracted by this and continued to walk persistently. He reached the next scene. A park, distinguished by innumerable shining white trees - also, of course, pulled into negative color.

Here he is now standing in front of a signpost near a lantern which points in different directions. The lantern as well as the trees are shining all around. His surroundings have stopped spinning in the meantime.

There are five different directions that the signpost indicates. To the right and left of Dante where a glaring path leads past trees and into the darkness. One directs back, the other points straight ahead to a well. Its red liquid bubbles up. His first thought is that the liquid is also thin blood, but since the colors are reversed, it could actually be water for the first time. Behind the mighty well's fountain is a huge, shining white gate. The fifth and last arrow leads diagonally across over orange meadow and a hill. The violet sky over the whole park, if you can call it like that when meaning the horizon in the demon world, adds its bright colors to the place. The first place within the demon world that is not brimming with drabness. However, this makes the park even more difficult to survey than the city since the intrusive color play is an immense challenge for the eye.

The signs of the signpost do not show any inscription. Hesitating which path to take, Dante intuitively chooses the one that looks most interesting: the path straight ahead towards the gate. Having arrived there, he can touch the gate; so it is not only an illusion. He pushes against it but the passage cannot be opened. Even when he presses against it with his second hand and applies more force, the door does not move. Dissatisfied, Dante steps back and looks around. Which way should he go instead?

If he is not allowed to step through the gate, then Dante wants to try the extravagant path across the bright orange meadow. He crushes the grass underneath his boots and climbs up the hill. The glow of the purple sky intensifies and spreads over Dante, only to finally engulf him.

He finds himself standing in the same park and next to the signpost. Being surprised about the happening, Dante looks to the left and right, and then up to the arrows indicating that five directions. Suddenly, one letter appears on every arrow. On the right arrow is written the letter _F_, on the left on it is _G_, on the arrow pointing straight ahead it is the letter _M_, on the one pointing back it is _D_, and the letter _M_ appears on the arrow that points half right across the meadow. Then the inscriptions disappear and chaotic words are to see:

* * *

Arrow pointing to the right: ireefllh

Arrow pointing to the left: vsgaleanrde

Arrow pointing straight forward: aestlfomthesatcer

Arrow pointing back: ddhaetsictrit

Arrow pointing diagonally across the meadow: deonlcaoudrmn

* * *

Seemingly, Dante is _allowed_ to pass his time with a riddle; with a riddle of letters as it looks like. _F_, _G_, _M_, _D_, and again _M_. All those letters can be found in the confusing words. Does he have to move this letters so that he gets the right term in the end? That would be the way how a classic puzzle, which he has been confronted with several times in the past, works. In order for the words to change, he must probably choose one of the five directions. Dante looks around again and considers whether he can find any clues from the surroundings, but he cannot find anything like that. Therefore, Dante decides to choose a direction haphazardly. He liked the path across the bizarre meadow, so he decides to take this path again since the gate straight ahead is still closed. He probably will have to wait a bit longer for this direction to get available.

He walks over the hill and again he gets absorbed by nothingness when he returns to the former position - in front of the well and near the signpost. The demon hunter looks at the arrows. New letters are appearing. This time, the right arrow shows the letter _E_, the left one _V_, and the arrow pointing straight ahead the letter _C_. It is a _H_ on the one pointing back and a _L_ for Dante's favorite direction: the diagonally arrow. Then these terms also disappear and mixed up words can be seen again. However, Dante can recognize a difference in them:

* * *

Arrow pointing to the right: fireellh

Arrow pointing to the left: vsaleagnrde

Arrow pointing straight forward: aestlfotheamstcer

Arrow pointing back: dhaetdsictrit

Arrow pointing diagonally across the meadow: demonlcaoudrn

* * *

Especially with the term of the right arrow, he can see that the letter _F_, which appeared earlier, has been moved to the beginning of the word. Dante checks to which position the other letters have been shifted to. Finally, after closer examination, he can see that the previously shown letters _F_, _G_, _M_, _D_ and _M_ on the respective arrows have been shifted four spaces to the right. So does the direction he had just taken always correspond to a shift of four spaces to the right? Based on this theory and assuming that the classical numeral system also applies in the underworld, it would probably mean that taking another direction causes the letters to shift three times to the right, a different way two times to the right, and a further path one time to the right. It is only questionable whether the remaining fifth way shifts the respective letter five spaces to the right or just do not cause any reaction at all after Dante has chosen it.

Again, he looks at the terms on the arrows and assumes that he can get some words identified already. He even owes one solution word to Savo since he mentioned it when he talked about the demon Futuras. Since then, the demon hunter could not get this term out of his head: _fire hell_ \- possibly the final word of the arrow pointing to the right. The arrow that leads across the colorful meadow apparently means the word "_demon"_. If one then puts the second part of the word together, it could be _"cauldron"_.

Even if Dante should be right, he would not get to the respective places at this moment anyway as the puzzle is still activated and has to be solved first. So Dante continues to decipher all the terms.

He remains with his theory and takes a closer look at the arrows on which the words he suspects to be are written. The letter _E_, which was written last on the right arrow, and _L_, which had appeared on the diagonal arrow; how would he have to move these letters to get closer to the words he guesses them to be? It needs to be a shift three times to the right regarding the word he assumes to be _"fire hell"_, but which direction does he have to choose to make this shift happen? Dante looks to the right. Maybe this way?

_"So what!"_ Dante thinks. _"Just give it a try."_

Even if he would have to correct the word constellations to solve the puzzle, it at least gets clear to Dante which number corresponds to what direction. He perhaps would have to start the puzzle all over again, but that would not be tragic. Either way, he will get the riddle cracked.

Dante goes to the right and disappears into nowhere, only to be teleported back below the signpost. New letters are appearing. For the right arrow, it is this time the letter _L_, for the left one _N_, for the one pointing straight ahead _E_, _C_ is for the one pointing back, and the arrow pointing diagonally to the right shows the letter _O_. The words' positions have changed as follows:

* * *

Arrow pointing to the right: firellhe

Arrow pointing to the left: salveagnrde

Arrow pointing straight forward: caestlfotheamster

Arrow pointing back: daethdsictrit

Arrow pointing diagonally across the meadow: demoncaoludrn

* * *

Dante is right. The word on the right arrow keeps evolving into the term he suspects, thus the oblique direction corresponds to a shift of four positions and that one to the right of three positions.

There is another word he sees emerging out of those letter salads: "death district" on the arrow pointing back.

He compares the words he thinks he has already guessed right and contrives how he has to move the letters. Especially with the term _"death district"_ it is appropriate to shift the letter _C_ three places to the right. This works also with the word _"fire hell"_ if the first of the two letters _L_ goes along. He is just not sure regarding the term _"demon cauldron"_ which can be read with a little bit of imagination on the diagonal right arrow. However, with two terms as indicators to go right again, his uncertainty is outvoted, so that he chooses this direction.

The letters for the next round are _H_ for the right arrow, _L_ for the left arrow, _O_ for the one pointing straight ahead, _I_ for the one pointing back, and _U_ for the arrow pointing diagonally right. The designated words are:

* * *

Arrow pointing to the right: firelhel

Arrow pointing to the left: salveagrden

Arrow pointing straight forward: castlefotheamster

Arrow pointing back: daethdsitrict

Arrow pointing diagonally across the meadow: demoncaludorn

* * *

Dante seems to have the hang of it. He can now also identify the last two terms. _"Salve garden"_ or _"slave garden"_ \- more likely the second option - and "castle of the master". When he again compares all the terms with each other, he needs to shift the indicated letters back by one position this time.

_Back_. Dante looks behind him and decides for the way he once came. If the puzzle is still activated, he should not get back to the place where buildings turned around him, but return here; next to the signpost.

Indeed he returns back and sees the signpost with different letters on it: _E, G, M, E, _and _R_. As they disappear, the signs show the following terms:

* * *

Arrow pointing to the right: firehlel

Arrow pointing to the left: slaveagrden

Arrow pointing straight forward: castleoftheamster

Arrow pointing back: daethdistrict

Arrow pointing diagonally across the meadow: demoncauldorn

* * *

Dante realizes that the puzzle heads into the last round because if he now goes back one more time, the letters will be arranged correctly and the riddle itself will be solved.

He does not hesitate for a second and turns his back on this place.

Lastly, the signs of the signpost show the final words: _Fire hell, slave garden, castle of the master, death district _and_ demon cauldron. _

The terms remain on the signpost and the gate behind the fountain straight ahead opens. Even though this must be the place where Mundus is, who may be having a showdown with Vergil at this very moment, Dante cannot help but choosing the right direction and going to the fire hell to pay a visit to Futuras.


	15. M15- Devilish Rebirth,Heavenly Damnation

**Mission 15**

_Devilish Rebirth, Heavenly Damnation_

* * *

"Are you seeing the same thing as I do or am I hallucinating?" Trish says to Lady.

"You're not hallucinating, I see it, too. Or maybe we're both crazy already."

White creatures flow through the sky as they take on the vast number of demons. The whole city of Fortuna is taken over by supernatural beings; by dark and light ones. Both parties fight and chase each other through the many streets and alleys of the city. The presence of Trish and Lady seems to have become meaningless to the devils.

"Those ... statues ... are not demons ..." Lady says.

"I think those are ... angels?"

"Well, the white wings would be appropriate ... But how the hell ...?"

"Hera", Trish answers quickly.

"You mean, she's opened that ominous _Empire of the Gods_ in the meantime?"

"Well, I don't know how, but if _you_ can see that ... _they_ can see that ..." Trish points to several windows from which some of the residents, whom she had brought to safety together with Lady and a troop of men from the Organization, peer out with baffled faces. "... and _they_ can see that ..." She now points to the end of the street where that rescue squad of the Organization, whose men remain untouched by the demons just like the two women, stands. "... then this really is happening right now, and if those _figures_ are no demons, then they must be angels ... and without an opened Empire of the Gods, there would be no angels. Just like as it always has been so far."

"If that's the case, then we're no longer needed, apparently. We could go and check on Kyrie. They seem to have this under control", Lady says.

"Yeah, good idea."

* * *

The blade rests on his stony and gigantic head. There it seems like an insignificant toy. Only because of the high gallery on which the young man is standing and the bended down position of the demon who rests his upper body on his right knee, his head lowered, it is possible for the man to rise above the creature who is actually about 330 feet tall. If one had compared the body sizes of the two opponents before the fight, one would have never expected the young man to win. In fact, this assumption would have been wrong in the end.

He did it, he has just beaten him. Here he is now standing as a proud victor, looking down on that demon who shows similarities with a heartless angel. That _God_ how the demon used to call himself.

"Yes, just kneel down, as it should be for a servant."

"How could this happen?! Who are you?! I sense the dirty presence of Sparda, but you are neither the red-dressed bastard nor his twin brother. And that _arm_ ... Tell me! ... Who are you?! Is there another descendant who is unknown to me?!"

"You will remember me not only as _his twin brother_."

"WHAT?!"

"Yes, Mundus. I'm back. Never really gone. Let's say _only absent_ for a while. You thought you could enslave me forever and hold my soul. But here I am. The new king of the underworld. Lemme show you what I mean."

He removes his long sword, _Yamato_, from Mundus' head and takes a few steps back. _Nero_ squints his red eyes and holds his hands in front of his face. He cries out in pain and his body sinks down. The blue aura that has been vibrating around his body ever since intensifies, swallowing his entire exterior. It expands as a bright light more and more, until it has taken over the whole room. Turning into a kind of concentrated energy, it shoots further out into the corridors of the gloomy castle, and probably much further. These old walls probably never have experienced such a strong brightness before. Eventually, the light fades bit by bit, leaving a mist that gradually disappears.

Nero's lifeless body lies on the grand gallery. The _Devil Bringer_ has lost its light. _Yamato_ is in the hand of a noble man with craggy facial features, ice-blue eyes, and styled back hair. It has now returned to his real owner. To Vergil.

His coat is decorated with blue, white, and gold ornaments which are not only excellently matched in color, but are also arranged in a fine way to form a neat pattern. Vergil's coat is buttoned on the right side and the collar wraps around his neck. The long coat does not classically go down from the lower back over the back of the legs, but extends from the left hip over the entire leg of that side. Only his grey boot is to see there. Instead, the right leg completely reveals the well-fitting black cloth pants he is wearing. All in all, the coat fits perfectly to his upper body. Grey gloves cover his hands. His entire style of dress makes Vergil shine with class and imperiality.

He takes a deep breath and enjoys the process of breathing with closed eyes, when he then opens them.

"It feels good to have my own body back. I feel like I just had been reborn. All the more reason for you to be _my_ slave this time."

"That's impossible! I am the true ruler of darkness! No one can ever be that but me! I am invincible! How was it possible to you to escape death!" Mundus growls and has slumped further towards the ground when the immense light hit him.

"With this it just became clear who has the true power and who is worthy to take the throne. Do you need any more proof of your failure?"

"It's not over yet! They will tear you to pieces! You shall suffer! More painful than anyone ever before! I want to hear you crying for your mom and dad! You shall grovel for forgiveness!"

Three glaring red dots appear on Mundus' forehead which form a triangle.

Vergil grins. Abruptly, the room is filled with countless demons. Vergil looks at the huge mass from above and recognizes their nasty grimaces of all kinds. He rests his hands on his katana, maintaining his grin.

"Rip up that filthy Sparda offspring! But leave me his heart! That is going to be my tiny but delicious dessert after my feast! I'm sure the mixture of man and demon will be very tasty!"

The demons are not responding. If at all, they eye Mundus while snarling bestially. Then the demons start to move, but not up the stairs towards Vergil, but over to Mundus.

"Scapegraces all around! I told you to attack _him_!"

Mundus words do not stop the demons from marching towards him.

"Looks like your feast is basically falling through. Either way, the taste of my flesh would have disappointed you since there's nothing human in my body anymore ..."

Vergil raises his hand and the demons heading for Mundus stop abruptly. Now the huge horde turns synchronously to Vergil, only to bow down before him.

"These are my dolls now, Mundus. And you'll be one of 'em."

* * *

Two mighty waterfalls arise on both sides. They gush down into the depths where only the mist of the water is visible. Apart from that, there is only the white light, the emptiness, surrounding them, and the platform paved with white stones and decorated with some columns that floats in the air and on which they are standing. Hera and Savo take a staircase that leads up. The path they get to see leads straight on. Gradually, there is nature to see through the haze created by the strong waterfall. It seems like a rainforest is going to open up far away from them. A breath of glittering dust sweeps past Hera's nose and when she turns her focus back to the background, she can even slightly make out a rainbow. Her home, Alba Island, already offers beautiful places, but this one has something especially magical about it which causes great awe inside of her.

"Delightful, is it not?" Savo says.

Hera nods only; much too busy to absorb the impression of the endlessness of this place.

The further the two of them get, the clearer the rainforest becomes, so that the individual plants can be admired better from a distance and the juicy green becomes more intense. In the depth, she now also sees various angels floating around.

They continue until they reach the next staircase leading up. Once Hera has moved up the stairs, she gets to see a mighty place which exceeds the angle of vision of her eyes to an immeasurable extent. Until recently, this place was not perceivable, as if climbing the stairs had just caused this place to be created.

"This is probably the holiest place you will ever get to see. It is the heart of the Empire of the Gods. This is where the path ends, as you can see."

"An amphitheater?"

"A temple. The _Templum Deorum_. A gathering place for all sacred beings."

The shiny steps made of white marble run around into the depths. They lead down so deep that one could think the place represents the firmament of hell. A roofless construction, built of several columns, as well as variously shaped huge rocks take space away from the huge area down there. A pompous gate of shining gold let suggest to be the end of that place. From up here, all parts of the temple look so tiny, but this must be a pure illusion since Hera is several feet away - difficult to estimate how big the distance exactly is. Hera can only barely see that there are statues on some of the steps. Those could appropriately represent angels.

"It's not bad here but I expected to see way more", Hera says, looking deliberately unimpressed, even though this may not be the case really.

"The Empire of the Gods does not have many venues, but the ones it offers extend to infinity, so that probably no creature of this world would ever be able to explore all places in detail. Thus, the Empire of the Gods certainly keeps many secrets from the angels who live here, and they will probably never be revealed."

"... Have you ever been to the demon world?"

"No, there has never been a reason to enter the home of the demons. Nor will I ever have, but perchance the occasion will come to _you_ soon ..."

"... Anyway, it looks like our tour through _this world_ is over. Thanks, it was ... _nice_", Hera says without any emotions and wants to turn her back on the temple and Savo just as his words stop her from leaving:

"... What memories of your childhood do you have?"

"... Huh ...?" Hera turns around.

"What memories of your childhood do you have?" Savo repeats. "With that question, I mean the period before you came to your adoptive parents; so that I can provide you with the missing information. After all, you deserve to know the answers. Or are you no longer interested in discovering the whole truth?"

Hera hesitates, but finally forces herself to answer:

"... Happy memories. Safe family life with mother, father, and brother, until the moment that man knocked at our door. I can exactly remember his appearance to this day. This picture doesn't want to get outta my mind. Black, long hair, skin as white as a sheet, tall; He wore loose clothes. A grey shirt and light-colored trousers. He was maybe 30 years of age or so."

She pauses for a moment as the image of that person emerges before her mind's eye. Finally, she can regain concentration to continue telling about the happening.

"I'd been the one who opened the door ... Me, a six year old girl back then ... He asked if my parents were at home. He needed help. After my parents came down the stairs, he suddenly held a lance in his hand and stabbed it into their chest. First into that of my father's, then that of my mother's. I grabbed my little brother's arm and ran out the back door with him. Fortuna's streets were empty. Perfectly normal for a Sunday morning. We just ran. I wanted to get help and to keep us safe, but I didn't know what to do and where to get help. By and by we could hear music play from the direction of the port. That was a sign that someone had been awake who could help us, so we ran to that direction. There must've been a party that was just about to end, but there'd been still quite a few people. They'd been all too drunk to take us kids seriously, though. So we just kept pushing through the crowd. Nero stumbled and I lost the grip around his hand. I couldn't see him anymore because of that bustle. I called for him and pushed the people away, but he'd been gone. He just disappeared without trace. Then suddenly I saw that man again how he pushed his way through the crowd as well. I ducked down so that he hopefully wouldn't see me, and searched for Nero down there. I simply couldn't find him. Then I ran further down towards the jetty. There'd been just _one_ boat on which I hided underneath a blanket. I'd been so scared. I'd been so scared I didn't even want to move when the boat started."

She snorts after saying the last sentence in order to ease the increasing tension inside of her.

"I arrived at Alba Island. The old man who owned the boat found me during unloading his goods. He took me to his home, to his wife. I told them everything. They wanted to help me find Nero and let me stay with 'em. They made it easy for me to feel comfortable, safe, and loved. At that time, the Order of the Sword had grown big and finally took over the leadership of Fortuna. Jannes and Olivia, who then adopted me, tried to find Nero with the help of the Order, but all _they_ did was to declare Nero dead after a certain time as their _search operation_ had been negative", Hera says with a sharp undertone and shakes her head. "This search operation had never taken place at any time. Today I know that Nero had been with 'em all along and that he grew up there. They just didn't want to give him back, those dirty bastards! Many years later, the Order shattered and the people's talking about a new organization and its head called _'Nero'_ made me prick up my ears."

"... Let us enter the temple", Savo reacts, spreads his wings, and glides into the depths.

Hera's face is skeptical as she transforms herself into the _Blood Angel_ to follow him.

He stands in front of the construction built of columns when Hera lets herself lower near him and dissolves her stronger version.

"You see that, _Angelius_?!" Savo suddenly shouts. "Has not this fine specimen been worth the sin?!"

"... From which of your many shameful acts are you talking about?!" A voice sounds in the background. It resembles the one of Savo.

Hera sees how the statues on the steps begin to come to life. One of the many angels floats down to the last step, stopping in front of Hera and Savo.

The appearance of this angel, as well as that of the others, is on the whole comparable with Savo's, only that the _Sinful Angel_ with his pitch-black wings stands out of the group. Another difference to Savo is the royal-looking, long robe of the statue that has come to life, as well as the wings that are approximately twice as large as those of the _Sinful Angel_.

"In the end, all these events had to take place for the Blood Angel to be born, so that balance can now be restored. Without my existence, there would be no possibility to balance the law of life at all. The future would get torn apart by chaos. I took all the guilt on myself. Someone always has to be the sinner."

"Is this to justify your dark deeds? Do you see them as glorious and heroic? You have brought nothing but misery!"

"I realize you don't understand. Just as you did not understand it then. Your rebirth, hence as Angelius II., has not changed that."

"Why are you here? Are you seeking canonization through me despite everything? Do you want to ask for forgiveness?"

"The past is irreversible. It is no longer my duty to serve as a pure angel. This duty will never be mine again. I don't wish it to be so, either. Nevertheless, I feel belonging to this world", Savo starts to answer. "The real cause of my presence is _she_." He points to Hera with his left hand. "I intend to show my daughter the empire that she will reign beside the demon world once the ruler of darkness has fallen."

Hera looks at Savo in disbelief.

"And therefore you take the right to enter holy ground? You are not welcome here. The Blood Angel may be allowed to stay, but the Empire of the Gods will not bow to her sovereignty. That is what I am talking about, Savo. You expect to put things in order and let them happen as they should be. In truth, it only makes them worse. You are the devil's incarnation!"

Angelius' words give Savo reason for a slight laugh which had never been noticeable so far.

"It would do you good to have a leader to open your deluded eyes. Angelius, as the guardian of the temple it would be even in your power to change the angels' credo. The Empire of the Gods is open and connected to the human world. Therewith the Blood Angel has come one step closer to the fulfillment of her purpose. She has set the angels free. She has given your existence meaning again, enabling you to resume the fight against the darkness. All this with my contribution. For that, at least, you should be grateful. The clash of the natural competitors is entering its second and final round." A few seconds of silence on his part pass by. "Incidentally, is it only you who have been granted with a second life? Or are my brothers and sisters ..." He wanders his gaze from Angelius to the creatures in the background "... not among _them_."

"I am one of the very few who have been permitted to return to another life. The angels known to you and whom you call your brothers and sisters, do not exist anymore. You have already lost them with your banishment from the Empire of the Gods. And if you suggest that I would betray the nature of my existence, deny my origin, and abuse my authority, you are wrong." Angelius summons a huge lance. "My patience is exhausted. I call on you in all clarity and for the last time to leave the Empire of the Gods instantaneously. You only poison this sacred place with your presence."

The other angels are now also armed.

"I am under the protection of the Blood Angel. An attack on your part would be more than ... _imprudent_."

"Okay, guys, what's all this bullshit?! I ain't in the mood for an _angels-brawl_, let alone I have time for that!" Hera rises to speak.

"I wanted to give you our long-awaited conversation, Hera. Right here, in this quiet and special place, but these _molesters_ hinder us", Savo says.

"If that is so, I do not want to be an obstacle and fuel the conversation, so bringing reality closer to the Blood Angel. It appears to me, my dear child, that you do not know the basic fact. Otherwise you would not stand that _peacefully_ beside _him_. Beside your biological father who derives his triumph from your very existence."

Angelius wipes his hand through the air. As a result of this movement, Savo's appearance changes abruptly. He has become a stately and fair-skinned man with long, black hair.

Hera's eyes widen. She steps back and stares into the same grey eyes she had to look into as a child.

"Every angel, including your father as a former one, has a human form to not get noticed in the mortal world while doing good ... At least, that should be the true reason for using the human form ... And that one is _his_ human appearance."

"... _You_ ...?! _You_ destroyed our family ... All because of _you_ ... I knew you can't be trusted ... But that ... You fuckin' bastard!"

Savo shakes his head and with this his appearance as the _Sinful Angel_ takes effect again. "... It is _you_ who must be halted ..."

He conjures up his lance and when he wants to throw it, its tip darkens and extends to create more sharp edges. In a flash, the weapon races towards Angelius. Black, dense smoke appears when it hits him. A few white feathers glide down and as the smoke clears, Angelius' weapon falls to the ground and he himself also hits the bottom of the temple. He does not move and after a short time, the body begins to dissolve.

"Assuredly, my friends, Angelius III. will not be born", Savo says and teleports his weapon back.

"Down with you!" One of the angels exclaims and wants to start an onslaught with his group when Hera raises her arm and speaks:

"Lemme do it! I really feel like letting off steam!"

The angels comply and lower their weapons.

Hera moves her raised hand behind her back and pulls out _Soul_. Her eyes, filled with nearly untamable fury, have not turned their focus away from Savo since then.

"Do you still believe that _I_ would protect _you_?! As if you have ever been worth to me! ... And _you_ wanna be a father! You don't even know what that is!"

"Angelius always liked to interfere in everybody's affairs. He was aware of everything, that self-important nobody", Savo says and keeps - despite the situation - calm which is typical for him. "Even if this deed does not make my character shine, I would have let you know the whole truth, Hera. It only deemed appropriate to describe my view beforehand, so that you might understand the motives for my behavior."

"_Understand_?! How could I _understand_ your _behavior_?! And I don't fuckin' care how you justify your actions! If any, it certainly would've made it a lot better if I had known why you've done all that beforehand!" Hera says energetically in order to dampen the serious and constantly growing impulse in her through the verbal way, when the volume of her voice actually starts to decrease. "I swore to myself I would kill the man who murdered my parents as soon as I found him. At times, I had given up hope to ever meet him. I concentrated on other things, much more important things than hatred and revenge. But now I'm relieved that he found his way to me and that at least I can finally close that chapter for myself."

"If it should be intended that my existence ends where it once began, then I can imagine no better place to rest than this holy temple", Savo replies. "I loved your mother. I truly did. Maria. She had been different from these ordinary people. With her, I thought that a monotonous human life might be desirable for me too. Then you had been born into the human world and as much as your birth made me feel joyous, the much I longed for freedom and independence. Towards all, I was still a supernal being who felt compulsion of spreading his wings. My nature had not been created to stay in one place. Especially since for thousands of years before I met your mother, I did nothing but to explore the human world. I made an arrangement with your mother that I would travel around for a while and she would wait for me. She promised to wait, but after my return I found that she had not kept her word and that her _paramour_ had settled in our domicile! To my chagrin, you called him _'papa'_. A boy had joined the family as well. Myself had been ostracized."

"Of course you had to kill them both out of shock!"

"... Since your disappearance, my only aspiration had been to find you. However, thanks to Vergil, my search found an end one day, although from then on, years would pass before you would surrender to revealing the meaning of your dreams. My intention to let you find the red book, which I had originally placed in your room, had been delayed when your surrogate parents took it and stowed it in their wardrobe. Apparently, this book must have been a thorn in their side and they must have surveyed it well to realize that this writing had not been a mere novel ... But I was patient. Their age had been far advanced and an imminent demise became more probable. It took a while, but then it finally happened. It had not been me who tore you into a new life. Life itself demanded a new phase for you. My task for the whole time had been to merely maintain mental contact with you."

Her face becomes more and more rigid and anger inside of her wants to get the upper hand, but she uses her breathing to stay in control of the situation and not to let herself be overcome by this emotion since she has a burning question concerning her brother left:

"... How come that Nero can't remember anything?! Do you have anything to do with this too?!"

"He was not meant to remember the occurrence, but he had not deserved to die either. He was a child and should not have to pay for his mother's betrayal. So I only erased his memories. Yours were also meant to fade, but apparently my spell had not been strong enough as you can remember the event. Already then, your Blood Angel abilities must have protected you. Later, I learned that Nero had been accepted into the Order of the Sword. Since he had found a home and you had been undetectable for me on Fortuna, I assumed that you had left the island, so I headed out into the wide world again to locate you in some way."

"... And because you knew where Nero was , you had the idea of choosing _him_ as the new home for Vergil's soul ..."

"Vergil gave him wonderful abilities that he could not even have dreamed of as a human being. I made him special and cured him of the sickness of having a mere human existence."

"Okay, I've had enough of this, you miserable piece of shit!"

Eventually, hostility has grown too large inside of her to be kept under control and Hera conjures up her _Blood Angel_ form. Hatred and darkness seems not only to have taken over her inner life, but also her outer appearance as her bodyas well as her armordoes not show any brightness.

Her two wings are black, just like Savos. Her skin has turned grey and her once golden veins are now pitch black, so is her armor. The red symbols on her body, which are also to be found in her classic _Blood Angel_-look, and the now red eyes are the only glaring color contrast. Also the otherwise crystal clear sword _Soul_ is now filled with darkness.

Hera executes a strike and as if she was drawing with _Soul_ or cutting the air with it, a black and slanting line or crack is created. In this way she lets appear more stripes sends them all in Savo's direction. He holds his upgraded lance in front of him for protection and when the black lines created by Hera hit his weapon, they get literally sucked into it. The _Sinful Angel_ takes a big swing and throws every single line back to Hera. Since the _Blood Angel_ has already planned the next attack and has moved into the middle of the column construction, the dark magic hits the front columns of the temple and cuts them apart. However, one of the angels intervenes with his healing power and prevents the structure from collapsing.

She storms out of the right side of the temple as fast as lightning and dashes in a wide arc towards Savo to let shower countless sword strokes on him. Savo has moved up into the air in the meanwhile and blocks every attack from Hera. Not only does he have to defend himself against her weapon, but also against the black lines that continue to emerge after every blow from her side and that want to get Savo hurt. A quick exchange of blows between the two begins, however, Savo ends it by fleeing soon.

He speeds through the area of the temple, and Hera follows. The pace of both enemies would almost be impossible to track with human eyes. Black air drafts which result from their dark appearance are only to see, and also black stripes resulting from Hera's magic that she continues while chasing Savo, letting them shoot across the entire area. Now Hera summons her arrows and spheres to make the _obstacle course_ more difficult for Savo. The spheres expand and deform into various figures, leaving Savo less and less space, even further up in the air. At the bottom of the temple, Savo has not only to avoid Hera's black magic and the columns, but also the many rocks which probably serves as decoration.

"Fight like a man, you cowardly dog!" Hera's voice echoes through the entire arena.

After a plentiful number of rounds across the temple, Savo dashes straight for the golden gate at the end of the sacred site, only to shoot up a few inches before it. Hera had guessed Savo's intention and slowed down her speed so she would not thunder against the gate as Savo had wanted her to. Unfortunately, she was not fast enough to surprise him from above. Therefore she trusts her magic and sends all kinds of dark spells up to Savo, who seems to have disappeared into nothingness, hoping that these magical abilities, even if they were only executed blindly on her part, will cause him a lot of trouble up there.

It has become quiet on the battlefield. Hera still awaits Savo's return. He just do not want to show himself. Shall she follow him? Her instincts tell her not to do so.

"HEY!" She yells.

Gradually, she can detect black movements in the air. They contract and finally become one. A tornado is produced which moves down to Hera.

She feels the immense power of the whirlwind which wants to pull her inside. Hera flutters her wings forcefully and concentrates on her escape attempt as best she can. She is just barely able to reach for a rock and to hold on to it, supporting her resistance against the pull of the strong wind. The tornado, however, keeps moving towards Hera. Finally she has to succumb to the mighty natural giant and gets torn into it.

Faster than in any carousel, she gets whirled around and pulled up at the same time. She loses her orientation, there is no more up or down for her, but the further up her turbulent journey goes, the more clearly she can see _him_. Savo hovers calmly above her in the void, waiting for her _arrival_. Finally he pulls his dark and upgraded weapon back and lets it race towards Hera with great force.

The pulling force of the whirlwind does not seem to apply for his lance because it rushes unperturbedly towards Hera while she is still at the mercy of the chaotic wind. When the tip of the lance is only a few inches away from Hera's collarbone, her protective power, which she wanted to get activated the whole time but whose summoning failed over and over again, is finally released out of necessity, freeing her from the unfavorable situation; even though this only makes her not getting hurt by the lance, so that she is still kept inside of the tornado. The lance gets chaotically whirled around. However, Hera does not have to fear any damage from it as the weapon weights lighter than herself and therefore moves up the tornado way faster.

Savo is the one who lets the force of nature that had been evoked by himself end unexpectedly and immediately reaches for his weapon to throw it at Hera who is falling down. She just barely manages to regain control of her wings and does a back flip with that she can move herself out of the lance's trajectory, letting it hit the ground. Immediately afterwards her _Blood Angel_ form dissolves and she crashes to the ground. Savo glides elegantly down and lands next to his lance and Hera's feet.

Anger, hatred and aggression; all those emotions she felt before the fight have disappeared. As if they had been swallowed up in the tornado - together with her energy.

Was it really the tornado that made her that weak or was it the use of her dark _Blood Angel_ abilities? Where did her dark appearance come from anyway? Did the negative emotions suppress the good part inside of her? Could she have stopped or prevented the whirlwind if she had not lost control of her balanced powers? Only to let arise that little bit of magical protection against the lance that was racing towards Hera had been extremely difficult for her. It felt as if she had tried to conjure up an ability with sheer will that she is not even capable of.

"Murrain has come over our temple!" One of the angels exclaims, commenting on the changed surroundings.

The _Templum Deorum_ has darkened. The once bright white marble stairs have turned grey. So do the columns and the once golden gate also have lost its shimmer. The gate is even rusty now.

"The divine and pure energy has vanished. Instead, the place is filled with darkness. It appears to me as if a second demon world is coming into being ..." The angel continues.

"Not a second demon world ... but _my_ world. My _very own_ world" Savo responds, pulling his weapon out of the ground to take it with him into the air. Elegantly and proudly, he flies through the air - almost triumphantly, as if he had everything underneath him already in his power. "Hera, I assumed you wanted to exterminate the murderer of your _first parental couple_, among whom you apparently include this _intruder_?! However, in truth, you are miles away from that! You did impress me far more in our first combat! Has your power already evaporated?! Maybe you just need some more time ... or _he_ is just wrong ...!"

"That you always have to jump to conclusions ...!" She exclaims and rises from the floor. "I must learn to use my powers to the fullest! That was the message you basically wanted me to know! ... Not only you ... Revenge, anger, and hatred should not be allowed to exist in this world! So why don't I just use the power of the Empire of the Gods to kill you and to bring back its glory?!"

Savo slows down his speed and gradually comes to a halt in the air, waiting to see what will happen next.

He gets to see a Hera who abruptly shines in the brightest light, as if she were the very embodiment of light and its authenticity. Her hair is white, as well as both of her wings. Her skin has regained its original paleness and her armor shines with brightness. The _Blood Angel's_ eyes and veins have changed back to golden; the symbols on her body now also show this color.

"Just proceed and demonstrate to me how you want to bring myself to the knees with that light force, my dear child", Savo says and confronts Hera with his dark weapon.

He deals countless blows, however, Hera is agile so that these are no problem for her. Every stroke Savo makes causes the shadow around his weapon to grow larger and larger. She succeeds in jumping over Savo and using _Soul_ to deliver a powerful blow against his wings. A few black feathers come loose and slide to the ground. Abruptly, the shadow around Savo's weapon increases and starts to extend far out until the whole temple is taken over by darkness.

Becoming blind by this, Hera lashes out randomly. Savo seems to have vanished from her reach. The brightness of herself keeps her visible even in the black fog, making her the perfect target for Savo whom she cannot see rushing towards her. Nevertheless, she feels his presence and one of her blows hits his lance so that his attack from the ambush fails.

He begins to execute a rain of stings with his lance against Hera. Listening only to her inner feeling, she can anticipate the attacks and escape them. Finally, there is no one near her anymore. Also any feeling of a body being in her reach has vanished. He must have moved up further into the dark shadows of the surroundings. Hera concentrates her mind and raises her blade. A glaring light coming from her emerges which gradually devours the darkness. Savo had flown a round and was about to make another attack on her when he gets hit by this white light and suffers damage.

Finally, the brightness in the temple is restored and the view for Hera is cleared again. She lets Savo, who is still suffering because of the radiant brightness, feel any more pain by racing towards him and executing an energetic and diagonal blow against him. That attack hits him so hard that he is thrown back several feet in the air.

Hera recognizes that the shadow around Savo's lance has disappeared. She also feels a strong energy inside of her as if the power of the _Empire of the Gods_ would be indeed on her side, helping her to maintain the light version of the _Blood Angel_, despite the darkened temple and the gloomy atmosphere that comes with it.

She fills her surroundings with white spheres in which flows bright and electric power. Savo storms towards her once more, dodging the bullets as they appear. Before he reaches her, Hera creates in parallel invisible resistance with her hand that pushes Savo back. This causes him to stagger backwards and end up in one of the barrier filled with spheres. The energy of the spheres discharges onto Savo and makes him tremble with every further contact he has with one of the spheres. Now it is Hera who storms towards him. She flits directly through the spheres, whose energy she does not mind herself, and, as in the first fight against him in the cave of the _Blade of Souls_, the sword's point penetrates his body. This time, however, a much more threatening body area is affected - the heart region.

When she pulls _Soul_ out of the rock-hard body of the _Sinful Angel_, Savo frantically flutters with his wings. He looks dazed and breathes heavily. Hera releases her grip around the _Blade of Souls_, so she can use her claws. _Soul_ floats in the air without its master's guidance as Hera grabs Savo's feathered wings and pushes him down with full force.

He hits one of the huge and differently shaped stones with his upper body and rolls down onto the plain and hard marble floor of the temple. Lying on his wings, he struggles for air and hardly moves. The crash on the stones has caused damage on the surface of his body.

Hera has taken her sword again and slides her body down gently. Now it is _her_ who looks down _on him_. The modification of a white _Blood Angel_ dissolves.

"Do you have anything to say before I rub you out?"

"We could have nurtured ... a profound ... father-daughter relationship ... In the end ... it does not matter ... who raised you ... I am your origin ... You needed me ... to fulfill your ... potential ... Now you have no more ... use for me ... Each of us ... has a role to play ... in the course of life ... I have served ... the higher purpose ...", These words can pass Savo's lips when he leans on his elbows. "With the darkness ... we both carry within us ... we have infected ... the temple ... That is not a mere hindrance ... At least not for you ... Hera ... You can enter ... the demon world through ... the dark temple ... If you make haste ... you will get to the new ... demon king ... before Dante does ..."

"What?! How does it work?! What do I hafta do?!" Hera reacts abruptly.

This relevant information has made her becoming more present again since she had listened only reluctantly and partially to Savo's long stammering.

"... Tell me!" She adds as Savo remains mute.

"You know very well what to do ..."

With hardened facial features, she looks into Savo's stony eyes. She puts her second hand over the one that already encompasses the hilt of her sword, and strengthens the grip. She raises her arms to push _Soul_ with all her might into the pre-bored hole in Savo's chest.

A painful and deafening scream emanates from him. Hera steps back since his whole body is taken over by a pitch-black vortex. Finally this accumulation of darkness moves towards the temple consisting of columns. The vortex extends over the entire column construction and fills the rectangular area, as if the temple was flooded with a black sludge.

Hera silently looks at the darkness that has accumulated inside the temple's heart to afterwards switch her gaze to the empty area of the ground where Savo was lying just a short time ago.

That is exactly what she feels inside. There is nothing. Nothing but emptiness. Not even relief or joy over Savo's death and the fact that her revenge - planned and craved for years - could finally take place. There is also no grief regarding the loss of another father, this time even her biological one, and the extinction of her real origin as which Savo just had designated himself. He had no fundamental importance in her heart anyway.

"Carry your light into the darkness, Hera, and bring ours back", One of the angels says as he flies up to a step. His brothers and sisters follow, spreading onto various steps all over the darkened temple and petrify together.

Hera turns to the pillar structure and heads towards the dark mass to get swallowed by it.


	16. Mission 16 - Sacrifice

**Mission 16**

_Sacrifice_

* * *

The arrow pointing to the right had led Dante into a gigantic ice cave through which he is still making his way. He had to move carefully and at the same time deftly not to slip on the frozen ice which covered the cave floor and the many holes in the ground.

The devil hunter thinks back to the huge frozen waterhole he had passed. Where all the ice is today, hungry flames must have raged back then. So was this waterhole filled with bubbling and spitting lava at that time?

In the area of the cave that Dante is now entering, the coldness is gradually fading. Water, resulting from mighty icicles that hang on top of the cave ceiling, is dripping onto the cold and wet rocky ground. Dante had never thought that drops of water could make such a strong and annoying noise. That noise is getting even louder due to the cave's echo. The sound of a multitude of water droplets falling down reminds Dante of a leaking faucet in the bathroom from which the water literally _hit_ against the ceramic of the sink or bathtub.

The passage becomes narrower and narrower and the ice is gradually fading. Dante has to push several steel chains hanging from the ceiling to the side to be able to move further. There is a whole jungle of that chains ahead of him.

Finally, he reaches a huge and open area which rather reminds of an ice landscape since the cave's rocks are only hardly visible through the ice. Frost and ice are everywhere and Dante can recognize himself many times in the coldness' reflections as if clones were entering the room too. The temperature here is all the more unpleasant. The cave ends far behind but a path leads even further, and this is where the reason for the icy and crystalline spectacle of this place becomes apparent: A mighty snowstorm rages at this spot as if it were a warning that the cave should not be left under any circumstances.

On the sides of the cave, there are several empty iron cages which are equipped with additional chains. Dante slowly approaches the dangerous looking exit and lets his gaze wander alternately to the left and right. He has to squint his eyes as the blizzard raging outside puts a lot of strain on them.

In the middle iron cage on the right, Dante can see a massive figure hiding in the shade and in a corner. Thereupon Dante changes his _course_ in this direction.

When he is close to the iron cage, which is fixed with a particularly large number of chains and spears, he squats down and moves as close as possible to the dungeon in order to identify the figure more precisely; even though the cold of the blizzard now whips against his left side particularly hard.

He recognizes the demon's thick armor that, resembling a turtle's shell in its nature, covers most of his body. The body's own protection is dark brown and decorated with several black dots and circles which, in the overall picture, look as if demon eyes are watching over the figure. The shape of the armor that extend to the left and right of his body is reminiscent of one of the many oval leaves on the branches of a tree. Despite the huge protection, the mud-green, obese, and slippery belly peeps out in the middle in whose skin flap he seems to warm his slender and lizard-like fingers. As far as Dante can tell, the demon has only four fingers on one hand. His head that, like the carapace, resembles a turtle, is tilted downwards and supported by his puffed up neck which has the same pattern as those on the carapace.

The demon hunter pulls out his pistol from the right holster and taps against the iron cage with the handle of his weapon.

The creature startles and pushes itself closer to the icy wall. He puffs frantically and his belly wiggles.

"... Vergil ...?" The creature, to Dante's surprise, begins to speak in the trembling voice of an old man, and stands up clumsily. The demon's shell bounces against the wall several times as if the demon, in addition to its heavy weight, were limited in mobility.

"... No, you are ... Dante", The demon continues.

"... And you are Futuras?"

"... How do you know my name?! ... And what are you doing here?!"

"I wanted to meet you in person. This book here has made you famous as an author", Dante says and has put away his pistol in the meantime to get the red book out of the inside pocket of his coat.

"My journal! ... You have my journal! ... Give it back to me!"

The demon clumsily straightens up and tramples on his stubby legs, much too small for his body weight, towards Dante and thus further into the brightness. Ankle cuffs, however, prevent him from getting closer to the dungeon door. Dante's gaze is focused, compulsively and completely unintentionally, on the demon's belly which is wobbling the whole time; especially since the shell has now opened and the belly is thus presented in its entirety.

Dante has to avert his eyes as he gets gradually disgusted by the sight of this region. He then rests his attention briefly on the carapace which now protrudes from the right and left side of the demon's body as if it were petrified wings, and moves his gaze further up to the demon's head to let his gaze end there. Futuras' eyes are pitch black and were therewith not visible in the darkness. They perfectly match the pattern of his armor.

"Only if you promise to answer a few questions as a finder's fee. No fibs, of course."

"If you give me the book back and you let me out of here, I will answer as many questions as you want. I swear it!"

"Well, you have high standards. Ain't it enough that you got rid of Berial because of me, so you don't have to sizzle in hell anymore ...?" Dante says and lets the book disappear in his coat.

"Oh really?! It was you?! It was you who defeated the Conqueror of the Fire Hell?! ... That's why I'd been subjected to an ice age after all that torturing fire additionally?!" It bursts out of Futuras.

Dante had noticed the scars and burns on his stomach and face. So these are not part of Futuras' nature after all, but a sign of his torment.

Now the demon's body begins to tremble slightly, just like his voice all along. This causes the shell to close. A veil of ice and frost has appeared on it.

"How about a little bit more gratitude? I got you a cooling off after all that heat ..."

"Alright, alright! _Thank you!_ Just free me from this! How can I enjoy my relief from pain when I'm trapped here in the end?!"

"... How can I be sure that you'll tell me the truth ...?"

"I just swore that I would tell you everything you want to know! So it's only natural that I will answer honestly!"

"I wonder how much a demon's oath may be worth ..."

"I am Futuras! I can be trusted! I would never lie! I have never lied and I won't do so in the future! I cannot see the future of others anymore but I can still say this much about _mine_!" Futuras says. "Look, I need your help and you need mine. One hand washes the other ..."

"Okay then ... I just _sincerely_ hope for you that you won't fuck around." Dante rises his body, looks at the many chains, and shakes the iron cage. "And how do I get you outta here?"

"There! Over there! You see that lock?! My freedom requires a sacrifice! A sacrifice from a demon who is responsible for my plight! Now that Berial no longer exists, which is no pity at all, it has to be Abylum! Otherwise, only Mundus can free me ... And that will never happen! We need Abylum's heart!"

"Ewww ... Organ donation is a great thing, but not in this case. Besides, if I was interested in the insides of any living beings, I would've become a surgeon!"

"Don't be such a baby! You must have seen much more horrible things in your life!"

"Watch it, pal ..."

"I'm just honest! I say what I think! That's why I _can't_ _lie_ at all!"

"I got it, okay? ... Who is this _Abylum_ and where can I find him?"

"He is the _Enslaver_. The _King of the Slaves_, and also the _Demon of Gifts and Talents_. Some also call him '_The Skill Manipulator'_. He dwells in the Slave Garden."

_ Slave Garden. The arrow to the left._

"... So I have to put his heart into that lock ...?"

Dante's gaze wanders to the large lock which is attached to the dungeon and has an oval opening. In terms of shape and size, a human heart could also fit in there.

His face shows the disgust he is feeling inside.

"Exactly!" Futuras replies. "But be careful in the fight! It has a reason why he has so many ... _titles_! He does not only judge about slaves but also skills. He can manipulate, steal, and even destroy various gifts and talents! That's how I lost my special ability! Beware of his tentacles! If he uses them, it's a sign that he wants to take your abilities! The power of Sparda may allure him ..."

"Well ... That sounds like an interesting _fella_ ... Thanks for the tip", Dante says and turns his back on Futuras.

* * *

Dante walks along the path he had came to reach the place with the signpost. This time he follows the left arrow which has been inscribed with the word _"Slave Garden"_.

After the glaring light has swallowed him, the first thing he sees, or better said reduces his visibility, is a dark fog. He moves forward and the fog clears a little so that he finds himself on a stone bridge. He had already felt the hard ground under his boots. Dante continues to look around and he sees a black liquid flowing beneath the bridge; as if burnt motor oil had been used to replace the water at that spot. He moves closer to one side of the bridge and looks down. Various bones and skulls float in that liquid which get swept away by the black river. Eventually, the fog dissolves completely and Dante can see the end of the bridge with a huge volcano in the background.

A wasteland, which Dante now enters, opens up around the volcano. The ground is stony and therefore very bumpy and uneven. The clear night sky, that suddenly appeared, gives the impression of being on a scene in the human world. The ground has several deep holes in some places. Dante passes one of them and, after taking a quick look inside, he is recognizing various dark figures in it. They are trying to move their ghastly bodies up, but they are failing and sliding down. They are making terrible and plaintive sounds as if they were begging for help in their own language.

Dante continues going straight ahead and reaches the next hole. Again he looks down for a moment. About a dozen demons are bustling in this one. Unlike the demons Dante was just looking down on, these are not trying to escape from the hole, but fighting each other. They are biting, scratching and dismembering each other until finally one demon remains. This creature is looking up to Dante with its big eyes while drool is running out of its mouth. Now he wants to flee up to the demon hunter but not to give itself freedom, but rather to get Dante between its sharp and yellow teeth. However, this demon too does not pose any danger since it is not able to move its massive body upwards. Dante averts his gaze and goes away.

On his way towards the volcano, it finally comes to life. Dark smoke leaves the depths of the volcano and smaller lumps of lava gurgle out of it until it finally erupts and loses a thicker mass of lava. The blistering heat trickles down the rock and when it hits the stony ground where Dante is, deep cracks start to form which get filled with lava immediately. The cracks are racing past Dante to his left and right and eventually are spreading all over the ground.

Suddenly, it bubbles again in the volcano and another eruption takes place but with the hot lava, a figure is also leaving the volcano. As the hot magma is flowing down, the red demon with his magnificent wings rises into the air, circles around the volcano, and then lands on the ground a few meters before Dante. The ground is vibrating.

"Visit for Abylum ..." The demon begins to speak. "Son of Sparda ... Why here?! Son of Sparda like Kingdom of Abylum?!"

The demon has a very slurred speech. It appears as if his own tongue was in the way. From the sound of his voice, one could think that his voice needs to get broken first to produce the typical supernaturally deep voice of a male demon.

"So Dante in the right place! Dante not interested in Kingdom of Abylum! Dante here because he needs something from Abylum!" The demon hunter says, imitating the creature's language style.

The demon is similar to a Tyrannosaurus in physique, except that he also has wings and is not quite as tall as a dinosaur. It could be around sixteen feet. The head, however, can be assigned to a completely different group of animals. His face has features of a predator, but it has huge horns like those of a ram. A long black beard is to see on his entire neck. If the beard were to grow above his neck, it would resemble the mane of a horse. Various parts of his hair are tied together with several dark rings and thus decorate the demon's hair or beard. His eyes match the color of his body. Only the thick cornea on his front side matches the color contrast of his wild mane.

Where the tentacles of the demon, mentioned by Futuras, should be, is a mystery to Dante currently.

"What Dante need?!"

"... Don't take this personally but I need your heart. And no, this ain't supposed to be my declaration of love for you."

"Heart of Abylum?!" The demon replies as he laughs out loud. With that, the mane on his neck is moving wildly back and forth and the demon's hair accessories are clashing together, causing the typical sound of metal rings bumping against each other. This makes the hair moving even more.

"Dante funny! ... Wait ..." The demon's laughter is getting quieter. "Aaaaah! ... Futuras! ... Dante need for Futuras! ... Futuras still believe in freedom! ... Why Dante help Futuras?!"

"Everyone has his reasons for certain things and actions, right?"

"_Never_ Dante get heart of Abylum! Abylum King of Slaves! Dante will be slave of Abylum!"

The demon stomps his feet furiously. He then lifts one of his legs and lets the sole of his foot race down on Dante.

Dante dodges with a sideways roll, but already here he has to be careful not to touch the lava flowing through the torn ground.

The demon rushes towards him with his mouth wide open. Dante even jumps towards him and uses the head that is coming closer to make his first successful hit with _Rebellion_. Dante deliberately does not choose his fiery nunchaku-like weapon since his surroundings do not lack heat and he assumes that the flames produced by his blows might not be very favorable for him.

His blade deeply penetrates the demon's snout and before the demon can hurl his head wildly around to get rid of Dante, the demon hunter lets up on the demon by himself with performing a jump in the air. Through the momentum he gains, he can pull his blade out of the demon's flesh and move his body over his horns. The demon spins around its own axis to push Dante away with its spread wings. His long, slender tail probably does not seem to be much help in his defense since it is wagging uncontrollably and almost rubber-like. Dante can move nimbly through the air and thus escape a blow from the demon; he also gets himself a few feet away from his opponent this way.

Abylum searches the area for Dante. When he spots him, he jumps three times towards Dante whereby the ground is shaking and the lava is splattering around the opponents, and on his last jump and just before Dante, he rises into the air. Despite the feigned attack on the demon's part, Dante was able to give him a few blows.

The lava flowing down from the volcano multiplies and finally pours into the many holes in the ground. The demons inside get slopped out of the holes; so the heat does not seem to bother them. Dante now has to deal with the smaller demons that were once trapped while Abylum is flying high up in the air.

Dante uses his sword and pistols powerfully to get rid of the annoying demons as quickly as possible. Occasionally, Abylum lowers his flight altitude and tries to catch and hit Dante with the claws of his short arms, his powerful legs or with his sharp teeth. Dante is always fully aware of those attacks, however, and can dodge accordingly to then immediately apply himself to fight the troublesome troop of demons.

When Dante has finished off most of the group, the stony platform tears further and further in various places, leaving huge cracks in the ground which Dante has to watch out. For the moment, however, he can also take advantage of this situation by letting the demons fall into the crevices. Even if they do not dissolve in the lava and seem to be resistant to the blistering hot magma, they still splash around and cannot manage to climb up the stony platform.

Abylum starts descending down but then remains in the air. His wings are spread wide and he is flapping them to keep his heavy body in the air. The glow of his eyes is intensifying and also the thin skin on the inside of the wings, which can be seen in some places next to the thicker and bulging areas, is shining brightly.

Now Dante is getting to see what Futuras meant when he spoke of Abylum's tentacles as the thick, bulging skin starts moving, detaching from the wings, and finally growing out on both sides as four long tentacles.

"Yummy ...", Dante says to himself. "This is where it gets exciting."

"Before Abylum make Dante slave, Abylum want see abilities of Dante!" The demon speaks and sends his tentacles to him as fast as lightning.

Dante parries a tentacle with his sword and cuts off a piece of it. He can also escape the next one this way and evades the other tentacles with nimble movements. Again, the previous ones grope for Dante. Finally, it gets too far for him and he activates his _Devil Trigger_ to reject the tentacles completely.

Abylum is forced to retract his tentacles and let them merge with his wings.

The demon hunter remains in his supernatural form and uses the rapid running speed to get closer to the demon, then making a leap in the air and hitting him with several blows. For a short time, Dante succeeds in freezing Abylum in the air with this method when the demon is able to free himself from rigidity and glides through the air again. He flies up to the volcano and dives into it. Gigantic lumps of magma are the result, flying towards Dante.

Still remaining in his demonic form, he manages very well to avoid those burning balls. However, it is the ground that takes damage from them, and has now more craters. Again, the volcano bubbles and the next flow of lava emerges from it. This heat also penetrates into the existing crevices and cracks in the ground but especially into the craters that have just been created in which the next demons are located and flushed upwards by the rising lava.

Dante is thus allowed to devote himself to another wave of demons which probably belong to the repertoire of Abylum's slaves. Due to his greatly increased speed with which he can dodge and attack quickly thanks to his demonic form, even more care is needed to avoid getting into the burning heat as his space on the ground starts shrinking. He slices his way through the hordes, and then Abylum can be seen again.

The demon wants to take advantage of the moment when Dante is distracted and lets his tentacles emerge once more, causing the thin layers of his wings glow red as well as his eyes. The tentacles flit down to Dante.

No chance for Abylum to succeed in his plan. Dante knows how to use his body to get the situation under full control. The tentacles get fended off or shortened several inches by blows with his sword. One of the tentacles repelled by Dante is passed on to a demon in his vicinity; a demon that is characterized by enormous muscle power, huge and sharp teeth, and claws. The tentacle sticks to that demon and thus the demon gets pulled to Abylum. The remaining tentacles, including those that have been injured by Dante and now dripping blood, are brought to the body of this muscular demon by Abylum. The being appears paralyzed as the tentacles begin to thicken; as if something is being sucked through them. Then Abylum lets go of the creature and hides his tentacles inside his wings. The muscular demon falls to the ground and dissolves.

Suddenly, Abylum's claws on his feet as well as on his little hands start growing larger. Also his already pointed teeth are lengthening and enlarging, so that they protrude far out of his mouth since it is too small for his new teeth. On top of that it can be seen how Abylum is gaining muscles. The strong legs are becoming even stronger and his body even more stable. With this enhancement, Abylum is sinking to the bottom. It literally seems as if he is being pulled down unintentionally because of his even heavier body and not that it was Abylum's intention to enter the ground. He lands on his feet and the ground starts vibrating massively which makes it getting more cracked. Dante, who in the meantime has changed his form to save energy, is jumping aside, so that he does not fall into the slit that is now appearing. Then Abylum tramples towards Dante.

Dante has to finish Abylum off quickly if he does not want to vanish inside the lava. There is not much rock left underneath him and the fact that Abylum has now gained weight and thus can crush the ground more easily underneath his feet does not really work in Dante's favor.

After Abylum has gotten close to him, Dante catapults himself up into the air in an attempt to have more room and freedom for further attacks on the demon and also to protect himself from the hot ground. Abylum hurls his head around and Dante has to escape his mouth as well as his horns, but still he manages to hit him one way or another. Abylum pushes his body aside, and Dante follows in the air; constantly insisting on causing damage on him. His attention wanders briefly to the slender tail of the demon which Abylum has not yet used. Whatever the reason is why the tail has not been applied in combat so far, Dante knows a use for it.

The demon hunter stops his sword strokes and moves through the air with his nimble and acrobatic movements and, bringing his devil mode back to help, heads for the back of the demon. Abylum turns abruptly and so Dante, who in the meantime could grab the tail end of the demon with one hand, gets hurled along. He manages to tame the tail and flits forward towards the head of the demon. Abylum flaps his wings and wants to stop Dante, but he is too slow. Dante is already there and can wrap his tail once around the neck of the demon - the tail of the demon is that long and flexible. He pulls strongly on the end of the tail and with the help of his devil powers, he succeeds in strangling the demon as Abylum is gasping for air.

With his muscular legs, the demon is stomping wildly on the ground as if he were almost performing a dance. The wings are beating against Dante's back, but he gets not deterred by this. He is rather concentrated on getting the noose - as the demon's own tail is one at this moment - even tighter. Through the dancing of the demon, the ground is crumbling more and more until it is finally collapsing completely.

Abylum's lower body is sinking into the fiery liquid. He is stuck. His short arms are resting on the rock and he is trying to lift himself up, but he fails. Despite the predicament, Abylum manages to extend his tentacles. They are groping for Dante who sees another chance for himself. He lets go of the tail, which then flips back, and grabs one tentacle with his right and one with his left hand in an intention of tying off the demon's neck once more. This time it works even better. He pulls on the tentacles strongly and finally knots them together. Then he grabs the next two tentacles that are searching for Dante and brings them around the neck of the demon and knots them together as well. This way it looks like as if he were tying up a package. The wings now literally stick to the demon's head and since he has no more possibilities left to move and is also running out of air, he falls forwards.

Due to the strong weight which is pulling the demon down, another part of the ground is collapsing, so that now also the head is plunging into the lava. The hot liquid splashes upwards. Dante flees and at this very moment, the glowing lava splashes onto the back of the demon and thus onto the spot where Dante had just been. With the remaining energy from the devil's mode, Dante lets himself down on a small patch of rock before his human form finally emerges again.

Suddenly, Abylum's head shoots out of the lava and his short arms feel the remaining rock around him. Abylum could free his wings from tightness. This because the tentacles were torn from his wings. The tentacles are hanging limply around his neck.

Abylum hisses and screams when he notices this.

"Dante not defeat King of Slaves! Dante get very big punishment!"

"I don't know what's wrong with you! It could work as a necklace! Looks _fabulous_ by the way!" With this sentence, Dante is hopping closer to the demon - otherwise he cannot move because of the many cracks and lava spots in the ground.

Abylum comes towards him with his head.

The demon does not have many actions left to execute, so that Dante, with the use of his aerial acrobatics, succeeds in attacking the demon's head, until it finally gives in.

Abylum utters a final painful scream and his upper body rushes down backwards. Dante jumps from platform to platform to get himself out of reach of the lava fountains that surely will arise again when Abylum's body plunges into the hot and boiling heat.

Abylum hits the lava and, as expected, the lava shoots up to sink back into the red and hot liquid after some time.

_The King of Slaves_ floats motionless on the surface of the magma.

Finally, Dante approaches Abylum again at a rapid pace. He jumps onto the demon's black horny skin, raises his blade, and stabs it into the chest region with full force. _Rebellion's_ point sinks only slightly in the demon's skin. Immediately, he pulls it out again and lets the sword race down another time and then once again. The small dent in the skin gets deeper and deeper this way. He continues this process in order to penetrate even further into the different layers of the demon's skin. When he finally feels resistance with his sword, Dante pulls his weapon out to take a look inside the wound.

He can see a small part of the grey and damaged rib of the demon. There is something black behind it. Dante stabs his sword into the wound again and pushes its hilt to the side to enlarge the hole. Now Dante can identify the black something as Abylum's non-beating heart. So he has targeted the right region. After all, Dante has come to this place _precisely because of this organ_.

Once again, Dante sticks his sword into the opening caused by him in order to break the heart protecting skeleton with quick pushes. Now that the heart is free from any hindrance, Dante switches to his _nunchaku_ and impales the organ with the two-pronged ending of his weapon. When pulling the weapon back, he needs more force to break all connections between the demon's heart and the inner body of the devil.

Grabbing the heart with his left hand, he puts his weapon away to finally hold it in his two hands which gives him a feeling of aversion. That feeling disappears, however, as the organ's slimy nature hardens and darkens, changing into kind of a black gem, an onyx.

Dante lets the onyx-heart disappear in his coat and jumps off the demon's body. He just wants to make his way back through the many stony platforms when the bubbling of the lava behind him demands his attention again. The demon's body sinks into the lava completely and with its disappearance, a thick and long cudgel rises from the lava, first lingering in the air and then hovering towards Dante.

The heart is not all that Dante is supposed to receive from Abylum, though this too may not be of Abylum's free will.

He reaches for the black stick of the weapon, that otherwise consists of various shades of red, and looks at it with astonishment but also with a bit of repulsiveness before tucking it to his weapon arsenal on the back.

There does not seem to be enough time for testing the weapon as the environment is increasingly turning into a lava landscape in which the stony platforms gradually dissolve, so he hurriedly makes his way out of the _Slave Garden_.

* * *

"... With hearty greetings from Abylum!" Dante shouts into the ice cave area and proudly moves towards the cage in which Futuras is imprisoned.

Joy and relief can be noticed on Futuras' face when he sees Dante, and especially the _souvenir_ Dante holds in his hand. If his deep black eyes could sparkle - in the figurative sense -, as it is the case with humans when something wonderful happens to them, they would surely do it now.

"After all these years! Finally! I can't believe it!" Futuras exclaims. "How did you kill him?! Did you see his tentacles?! ... Whatever! Get me out of here!"

"I didn't expect you to be interested in my story", Dante replies and inserts the onyx into the hole of the iron lock.

Immediately, the lock burst open and the many chains come loose and crash to the ground together with the many spears that had almost fenced the dungeon.

Dante opens the dungeon door for the demon. Futuras does not hesitate for a second and tramples out on his short stump legs while his greasy belly wobbles along with his movements. His sideways expanding shell bends accordingly to fit Futuras through the passage.

"Now my book!"

Dante hands him the red covered book. Greedily, Futuras grabs it and looks at it, also in this moment, full of joy.

"Why did you think I was Vergil at first? I know we're twins and we have a _quite_ similar look but why especially did you think of him?"

"Are you that kind of guy who can't stand being number two?" Futuras wrinkles up his nose and wipes under his olfactory organ with his stump arms. "I just thought he had returned", The demon continues before Dante can say anything in response to the previous statement from him. "But then I realized that he hadn't been the type of men who wore red clothes at all ..."

Dante grins and smiles at Futuras' impertinent reaction as he continues: "What do you mean with _'I just thought he had returned'_? Returned back to the demon world?"

"Gaaah ..." Futuras grouches. "Okay ... I promised. Let's go a little further into the passage. The cold shouldn't be too severe in there. Then I'll tell you everything in peace. It's getting really _unbearable_ here!" Futuras says and trudges, probably at a fast pace for him but at a leisurely pace for Dante, towards the passage that leads further into the winding corners of today's ice cave.

Once there, he pushes aside the steel chains hanging from the ceiling to sit down on a ledge that protrudes out of the wall and that is only moist but not covered by ice, his belly continuing to wobble for some time while he himself already sits still. Dante leans against the wall opposite to him and crosses his arms.

"Back when the Fire Hell was worthy of its name, your brother had been confined to a jail next to mine by Mundus' command. That was the first time I ever received a visit. Normally, slaves and prisoners were always sent to Abylum in the Slave Garden directly where they would die after a certain time. But Mundus had other plans for Vergil and me. We were not meant to die. While I was supposed to burn for all eternity, Mundus only wanted to break Vergil's will and strength so that he could take control of your brother completely. Therefore, it had been in Berial's responsibility to keep us suffering by torturous flames which severity always had to be as high as we were only just able to bear with. In the moments when the flames paused to give us some time to rest, so that we could gather strength for the next pain that would befall us, I talked to your brother. He told me that he would destroy Mundus no matter how bad and unfavorable the situation was. He would be strong enough not to lose his mind. He would pretend Mundus to have become one of his _puppets_. Then, at the decisive moment, he would take action, surprise Mundus, defeat him, and ascend the throne. He even promised to set me free if he would have taken Mundus' place. Eventually, the time arose and Berial brought Vergil to Mundus. Abylum had then to make sure that Vergil would become the soulless Nelo Angelo. The later death of Nelo Angelo was announced to me by Berial. With this information, he probably wanted to destroy my hope of ever being free from pain and suffering again; that there was no one left who could do anything against Mundus. He even had been successful with this as I gave up any spark of hope. But when I saw you and took you for Vergil, I felt hope rising. I thought Vergil had been able to accomplish his deeds after all these years and that Nelo Angelo's death was merely a tactical disappearance of him to prepare for a better plan. But apparently, it was over for Vergil already then ..."

"... He may not have been able to stand up to Mundus the first time, but he's still eager for the throne, and probably just in this second, he's making his second attempt ..."

"WHAT?! Vergil is alive?! ... Oh, I'm so _delighted_ right now! Today must be the _greatest_ day of my life! ... But how can it be?!"

"It sucks not to have _clairvoyant abilities_ anymore, huh?"

"Indeed! Nothing worse could have been done to me! I would rather have spent more years in the fire! And I, who had been completely abandoned and lonely in the dungeon at a place in the back of the demon world, don't get any news at all! I was left behind! After Vergil and Berial, I never saw anyone else here again! Not even Abylum or any other of Mundus' harbingers! Not that I had wished for that ... But now tell me!"

"After his defeat by Mundus, he could save his soul from death. Then he took the body of a human being, gained power, and spread in there, so that he was now able to take over this body completely. Clever as he is, he has also managed to open the demon world. Yeah, and now he might be on his way to Mundus, If he ain't already there, putting up a nice power play ..."

"He gave himself a second life through his soul and a human body?!"

"That's how you could put it."

"That is _impressive_!" Futuras exclaims as he begins to look more introverted. "..._ Onvoram geveli è pehl secan metre bedurio tabeh_ ..."

"That's what I say all the time!" Dante says as a joke, in truth not knowing what Futuras is trying to tell him in the foreign language.

"... Yes! ... Yes, of course ...!" Futuras finally is getting louder again.

"What?"

"... Entailing mother's benevolence and shelter ..."

_ "... Entailing mother's _-" Dante repeats and stops abruptly.

This line sounds familiar to him. Is it not written in the red book in the paragraph about Sparda and his descendants?

"... Your mother is always guarding you ... Even if she couldn't save Vergil's body from death, she was at least able to protect his soul."

" ... _A gift_ ..." Dante continues, with that reproducing the beginning of the meant sentence. "... The amulets ..."

"Nonetheless, it requires a great deal of strength. His power is truly incredible! I'm absolutely _astonished_! That makes me suspect that it might not be unlikely Mundus is going to get defeated by him this time! Mundus must be punished for all his shabby deeds! That's all I want!"

While Dante remains in his world of thoughts for a short time, he finally gets himself out of it by raising a question:

"... Vergil claims that Mundus has a weakness. Is that true? He also knew about the Blood Angel before I did. Ain't that your _specialty_? Did you give him all this information?"

"I educated him about all the things one should know about Mundus if one, just like him, intends to rule the demon world. This included the facts about the Blood Angel. Let me tell you everything as well. Let's start with Mundus."

"I'm all ears."


	17. Mission 17 - Prehistory Call

**Mission 17**

_Prehistory Call - At the Master's Command_

* * *

It was worth fighting. Both in the underworld to prove power and take control over the demons as a self-titled king, and in the world of the mortals whose white helpers would now be history forever. No sanctity of _the_ _Empire of the Gods_ would ever be seen again. Their former existence ought to be forgotten. _He_ would ensure that.

With Mundus' lordship over the demon world, a new age had begun. Everyone and everything was at his command and under his control. In the end, it was him who brought victory over good to the dark beings, breaking the law of nature with that.

However, a king - also someone like Mundus - needed excellent advisors to ensure his everlasting rule. That was the convincement of _the_ _Demons of the Times_.

Even then, being a demon was not always easy. Especially not when a demon realized that another nearby demon was a danger and that its own life was at stake. Devilish beings lacked sense of community, and rivalries within their own ranks were commonplace. This is still the case today.

_The_ _Demons of the Times_ \- originally a trio - had special abilities that distinguished them from ordinary demons. Among them were _Histus_ who had the gift of seeing events happening in the past, _Presencia_ as a female demon with the power of calling up current events, and _Futuras_ the prophetic demon with clairvoyant abilities. Although they were not able to intervene in any of the events that took place in those certain time periods, their abilities were still of great use to them.

None of the other demons knew about their special talents. However, they did know about their weak physical power. So Histus, Presencia, and Futuras had been good fodder for all the demons but with the help of their abilities, especially those of Futuras, they were able to escape any harm and to act preventively early enough.

Nevertheless, _the Demons of the Times_ were looking for permanent protection which Mundus would provide to them. In return, they offered him to assist as his imperial advisors.

In fact, Mundus entered into this type of arrangement after recognizing their talents.

By and by, Mundus' regime expanded, including _Abylum_ and _Berial_ who did not seek his protection and mercy primarily, but asked him for dominion over sections of the demon world. Naturally, Mundus was reluctant to give up power, and in any case, he wanted to prevent even a single demon from having the slightest chance of becoming stronger than himself. Still, he decided to assign certain territories to Abylum and Berial as a greater influence would make them better servants which Mundus would need if a force majeure were about to arise and to revolt against him. Even though he himself considered the chance of this to be quite little.

As a master of the burning element, he gave Berial the _Fire Hell_ and Abylum was allowed to build his _Slave Garden_ which he filled with humans and insignificant demons.

Of the two, Abylum was of particular interest to Mundus as he discovered that this demon, in addition to _the_ _Demons of the Times_ as unique beings, also had a special gift which he tested on his lackeys in his realm. It became clear that Abylum could toy with the skills of others. May it be to steal and to make them his own, to destroy them or to transform them at his will.

Histus, Presencia and Futuras, however, were always retained by Mundus as his close advisors. Not only to check what was happening in the demon world at that time or what would be happening, but also to be entertained by them, just as he used Histus' abilities to see the past.

Never before had there been anything really exciting in Futuras' visions, but this time it was to be different. He saw a demon named Sparda rising from the masses and taking sides with the humans. He fought _for them_, protected and freed them from the enslavement of the demons, and killed Mundus. This vision was followed by a second one. Before his eyes, a completely new species presented itself - the _Blood Angel_. Long after Sparda's deeds which would include leaving descendants, with her birth, she would be getting imposed the task of correcting the imbalance created by the ruler of darkness.

Immediately, he had to share this vision with Mundus, especially that of his master's defeat. Mundus mocked him and did not take his warning seriously. Yes, Sparda who by now had also been accepted into Mundus' _narrow circle_ always showed impressive strength and led his troops well, but he would never dare such treachery. Rather something else severe would happen than that event of Futuras' _alleged_ _prediction_.

Futuras tried to convince him of the truthfulness of his vision. So far, all his smaller predictions came true. Mundus, however, stuck to his view and did not believe him. Rather, he had to doubt the general loyalty of his servant and to question himself if Futuras did not want to fool him.

Mundus had to verify the accuracy of Futuras' statement in some way. He summoned Abylum and wanted to make use of his gift as a _Skill Manipulator_. He ordered Abylum to take Futuras' abilities of future prediction and transfer them to Mundus instead. That would allow the demon king to see for himself what was about to happen in the future without any possible false influence from Futuras. That was also meant to be the moment of dispossession of Futuras' ability.

Abylum extended his tentacles and shot them in Futuras' direction. He managed to take the ability of the prophecy away from Futuras, but failed in his attempt to transfer it to Mundus. Abylum even found that the ability of predicting the future had been lost.

"_Lurdan_!" Mundus shouted angrily but did not punish Abylum for his failure.

After all, Futuras had just received punishment for the lie that Mundus was still surmising. On top of that, he banished him from his castle and denied protection to make the bad luck perfect for Futuras.

"Let this be a warning to you if you might think about betraying me!" He addressed his sharp words to Histus and Presencia.

These two demons should now also walk away, but only for a certain time. Abylum was supposed to stay with his leader.

Futuras' words, although Mundus still considered them to be a bare lie, made the desire for more power rise in him. He also wanted to give Abylum a chance to make amends for his mistake. Mundus wondered what Abylum could conjure up for him to bring back his good mood. Finally, the idea of immortality came to him. If Mundus were immortal, what power would there be to fear?

"Abylum try hard!" _The King of Slaves_ and _Skill Manipulator_ replied. "But Abylum need more power from demons! Abylum must have great power for spell! Could be reason why not worked that Abylum create talent of future for Mundus!"

With this explanation, Abylum wanted to tell his master that he needed the life energy of more demons through which power he would have a higher chance to make the desired ability happen for Mundus. Immortality, after all, was not some simple ability, but an absolute one that would make Mundus unsurpassable and unique. It would make Mundus a kind of deity that he already thought he was.

Mundus granted him time in which Abylum gathered strength by draining the life energy of other demons. When he was ready for the spell of the complex gift, he returned back to Mundus.

Once again, with Presencia and Histus excluded, Abylum began his ritual. He used his tentacles and casted kind of a spell or command, probably for better concentration:

"Make that ruler of demon world ... immortal!" Abylum exclaimed.

A short moment passed as Abylum finally started to laugh joyfully and proudly. "Did it! ... Great Mundus feel power?!"

The demon king was skeptical. Indeed, he felt a powerful impulse in his body that even Abylum could sense as an aura, apparently.

"This shall be the power of immortality?!"

"Yes! Yes!" Abylum nodded. "Mundus can test ability when have fight for life and death! Mundus can lose but Mundus not die because immortal!" Abylum giggled.

"Quiet!" Mundus yelled and Abylum fell silent out of shock.

Mundus was anything but amused by Abylum's utterance. The attainment of immortality was a serious matter for him, and he had to be one hundred percent sure that this ability was now his. It was simply unacceptable that he first had to go through a life-threatening struggle to experience whether he had eternal life or not. He needed to know it _right now_, and it bothered him that he _could not_ determine this immensely important fact _in this very moment._

Even though Mundus did not like the casual words of the _Skill Manipulator_ and it was impossible for him to comprehend if Abylum had done his job properly, he let him go - completely neutral, without any reward or punishment.

While Abylum was busy creating the special ability for Mundus who himself had been distracted as well, Futuras ambushed his demon sister Presencia and his demon brother Histus. Because of her ability of seeing present happenings, Presencia knew that Futuras would seek them out but neither Presencia nor Histus knew of his intention. Futuras quickly let them know when he attacked and engaged them in a battle.

Not only was it Futuras who possessed the most impressive and important ability of the three, but he was also the one who had the strongest physical power compared to that of his demon siblings. Thus he succeeded in defeating Presencia and Histus. Out of pure hatred and jealousy that both of them were allowed to keep their abilities, he wanted to kill them, but Presencia and Histus made him an interesting offer which, among other things, should guarantee their survival. They were willing to transfer their power to him; then he could at least witness past and present events. Otherwise they would die here and now and take their abilities with them.

Futuras agreed. He did not kill them, and in gratitude, Presencia and Histus disbanded to leave their abilities to Futuras.

Already, Futuras knew what kind of fate would await him. Now that Presencia and Histus were anchored within him and had no longer a physical presence, Mundus would wonder where his two servants had gone, and eventually conclude that Futuras were responsible for their disappearance. But killing them had not been a better alternative for him.

So Futuras was soon to face the next punishment which was also intended to have an eternal effect on him: Mundus banished him to Berial into the _Fire Hell_.

While Futuras was tormented by the flames, his prediction came true and Sparda confronted Mundus.


	18. Mission 18 - Reverberation of the Oracle

**Mission 18**

_Reverberation of the Oracle_

* * *

"... Abylum did succeed in bestowing immortality on the ruler of the demon world, but not Mundus as a habitus. After all, in his spell, he spoke of _'that ruler'_, so the demon who was the ruler of the demon world at _that specific time_, and that had been Mundus. Due to my new abilities I had _acquired_, I watched the ritual _very well_ in retrospect as I was not allowed to be personally present when it happened."

"That means -"

"That means -", Futuras is interrupting, "that Mundus is only immortal as long as he is the ruler of the demon world. If someone would _push him off the throne_ and take the place of the demon king _instead_, Mundus would lose his immortality, and that is exactly what Vergil _intends to do_!"

"Okay ... That's interesting ..."

"Abylum certainly _wanted_ to create a general immortality for Mundus but because of his clumsy language, he even manipulated _himself_. Well, Abylum was not a particularly intelligent demon. That is what happens when you work together with someone like him!"

"... But that doesn't mean that Vergil's gonna be immortal as a demon king, right?"

"You've got it!"

"... That's why Mundus comes back all the time even though Sparda beat him ... And then I a few years later ..."

"That's how it is! One of you should have taken the throne to put an end to his infinite life!"

"Vergil's got the hang of it ... And what about the Blood Angel? What's that all about? What's that with her _life task_?"

"I remember the apparition of the Blood Angel as if I had just seen it. A woman who unites good and evil inside of her, represented by her unequal wings. I saw the Blood Angel's sacred site and the crystal sword. Then there was a second vision. A kind of _vision within a vision_. It seemed as if the Blood Angel herself wanted to show me what she would have to do to restore the balance and what the world would look like afterwards. Then the vision ended. I wrote everything from my visions in my journal in a secret language which I had developed, because I first assumed that this information was only meant _for me_. But then I realized that I had probably only gotten this impression because I was the only existing being at that time with such grandiose predictions! So I wanted to spread this message further but I did not get around to it as my imprisonment was imminent. Since I did not want my journal with all its valuable entries to get burned in the Fire Hell, I had to part with it. I was able to hide it just in time in one of the demonic libraries, and from then on I could only leave it to fate whether the information contained in it would get outside, but apparently that is what happened anyway!"

"... Was that demonic library inside of the _Temen-ni-gru tower_?"

"Yes! Then it was _you_ who found it there?"

"Nope ... The book came to me by another way ... It has had a long journey ... But now, what about the Blood Angel?"

"Yeah ... Right ... The Blood Angel ..." Futuras says "I'm going to read you the relevant passage from the book ... Or better said, I'm going to translate it for you to understand ..."

Futuras flips through his book. It takes a while and the page turning is getting more chaotic. He flips back and forth. Finally, he stops at the place in the book which Dante had looked at in his office when Hera gave him a new assignment.

"Where is the page?! ... Oh, I can't believe this! Somebody must have torn it out! ... And what are these scribbles in my book anyway?!"

"Like I said ... The book has had a long journey ... Some _beings_ permitted themselves to perpetuate in there ... For example that _sinful_ _divinity_ ..."

Futuras looks up at Dante and stares at him for a while with a grim expression that now seems petrified and rather thoughtful. "... That angel with black wings ... The origin of the Blood Angel ... I do remember ... But that _does not_ give him the right to deface my book like that!"

"These _scribbles_ are supposed to be a translation. Are they correct?"

"... He was able to decipher my secret language ...?" Futuras says to himself and reads when he finally replies: "Well ... For the most part, yes, but this is presented here as if it were certain that the Blood Angel will fulfill her task ..." He continues browsing.

"Oh ... That's not even sure? I thought it was all predicted this way?"

"Regarding this, I was only shown a variation of a reality ... I did not mention at any point in my book that I was shown prophecies concerning re-equilibration to happen certainly. I only predicted the existence of the Blood Angel. Also that she would be given the task of restoring the balance, but not that she actually _will_ fulfill it and that from then on good and evil will be equal again. The first two visions guaranteed me Sparda's deeds and the existence of the Blood Angel as fixed future events. The following one - that was what I meant when I talked about _'a vision within a vision'_ \- was pure _'What if ...?'_!"

Dante grins and shakes his head. "... Okay ... Well, tell me then. What if the Blood Angel restored the balance? How would the future look like? And more importantly, what does she have to do to achieve that?"

"... Now that I cannot read it, my memories have to serve me. Good that I have an excellent memory! So ... First of all the question concerning the restoration of balance by the Blood Angel", Futuras starts telling. "If the Blood Angel wants to follow her calling, she has to ensure that the demon world is equal in power to the Empire of the Gods. A direct hierarchy is not intended in the Empire of the Gods and therefore there is no angel existing who leads that world. This means that the demon world has to be adapted to this, and in order to be on the same level with the Empire of the Gods, the demon world has to be without guidance in every aspect. It does not matter who exactly is in the fore of the demon world, whether it is Mundus or Vergil or some other being. As for the higher-ranking demons, such as Berial as the Conqueror of the Fire Hell or Abylum as the King of Slaves, they are no longer an obstacle to the balance since they are all dead. Unless, of course, more of such significant demons have formed in recent years, but I dare to doubt that. As a second and last condition, both worlds have to be open, meaning, connected to the human world ... That's it, principally. At least according to that _vision_."

"I see ... If that _vision within a vision_ you were talking about had been a real prediction, so if it were one hundred percent certain that the Blood Angel will fulfill her task, then that would've automatically meant that one would know from the outset that Mundus will die someday anyway and that Vergil will either never become a demon king or - if he's really gonna make it - that he will also die in the end; if one could appeal to that _model solution_ for restoring the balance you just mentioned ..."

"Precisely!" it bursts out of Futuras. "Now for what would happen if the balance were restored ... Well ... The answer is relatively simple: Balance were restored. To someone like me, it sounds rather unspectacular, but for someone like you who has never experienced the balance as it once was, it must be something completely new and extraordinary! The demons would again be reduced to the meaning of their existence, and that is to punish humans for their sins without being a superior force. The guardian angels would watch over the innocent and even in the case of minor attacks by the demons, there would be enough other angels to intervene."

"If that really happens, I'll be jobless!"

"If you ask me, it is always good to have a demon hunter nearby. Who knows how long the balance will remain this time. Equilibrium will never be _set in stone_. I can imagine that one day a demon will rise up in the demon world again. Somehow, the want of growing in strength and power seems to be in the nature of a demon; as if it were almost a demon's task not to follow its own rules. One thing is certain, however: There will not be a second Mundus. He is truly unique in his kind. I've got to hand it to that _Belua_."

"My knowledge of Latin is limited, but yet I know that word", Dante replies. "But what will happen to the Blood Angel herself? Especially if it ain't certain that the balance, should it really be restored, will last forever? She will never be able to fulfill her task properly, will she?"

"The Blood Angel's task will never be completed. As long as the Blood Angel lives, she has to maintain the balance. So to say, it is a real _life task_. You even used that term yourself. Currently, it is just that the challenge of restoring the balance is greater and more difficult than ever before ... And what do you think will happen to the Blood Angel?!"

"Won't the Blood Angel get any _superpowers_ or something? So that she could rule about all the worlds? After all, the peculiarity of the Blood Angel is that she's connected to every world. That would be the best way to make sure that the balance stays as it is ..."

"Rubbish! How did you get that idea? Her power grows only through experience! It is not her purpose to seize power over all three worlds! Even if the Blood Angel were to attain higher power and become a kind of deity, her existence would still be a contradiction in terms! As a ruler of all worlds, the Blood Angel would thus be above everything and that is the exact opposite of balance! It is not enough that the Blood Angel harmonizes her abilities and unites good and evil inside of her!", Futuras says, browsing through his book again. "Here it is: _'Az proncipá tempori. Renio aevii brune, nago, legéta vit'_ ... And that is even translated correctly with '_Back to the beginning of time. Restoration of equilibrium, nature, law of life' ... _Because in the beginning of time, there had been no one who ruled about anything. To rule means control and control means power. Not compatible with the balance."

"So all of that was pretty much nothin' but hot air and manipulation ..." Dante murmurs.

"Pardon?"

"Nothin' ..."

"... I think you should ally with the Blood Angel! Since you ask so many questions about her, I assume you've already met her. All in all, you both have a common goal!"

"I'm wondering why there has to be a specific being for all that crap anyway. I've been managing things all by myself somehow, and also without any angels."

"Do you really want to discuss with me the general meaning of life? I know it bothers you not to play the leading role anymore, but you have to get through it!" Futuras says provocatively. "Is there anything else you want to know or are we done here?"

"There's one more favor you can do for me. Then I better go before I get into mischief and maybe put you back in the dungeon ... If I shouldn't get a more creative idea in the meantime ... You told me you're able to see the past and present instead of the future."

"That's right! Now that I am free from suffering and pain, I should have enough strength to use those abilities!" It bursts out of Futuras as if he could not wait to take a journey through the past for Dante or to tell him what events are happening right now elsewhere. "What do you want to know?! Is it about your father?!"

"... About my ... _father_? I was rather thinking about telling me what's the current state of Mundus and Vergil ..."

"Oh, yes, I can find that out for you, of course! I just thought you would want to know if Sparda is still alive! According to rumors, he shall be dead, but no one can say for sure!"

"... So you would be looking for Sparda in the present, or what?"

"Yes, and if I should not find him there, I'm going to search for him in the past! Just give me a moment! I need to get used to my abilities again first!"

"... Okay ...?"

Futuras closes his eyes. He lets them closed for some time and Dante watches how Futuras squeezes them more and more, making his face look even more wrinkled. He brings his stumpy hands to his head and appears strained.

"... So ...?"

"Ssssshhhh!" Futuras utters.

Another moment of silence passes as he finally stops his effort with an unsatisfied face.

"... I thought so ..." Dante says.

"... I could not find him in the present nor could I learn any new information about him from the past. After Mundus' revenge, the image before my eyes breaks off. Then there is only ... nothing!"

"So he's dead ..."

"But if that were the case, I should have seen his death! Maybe it is because of my power which is not enough or he is disguising himself and able to ward my seeing abilities ..."

Dante's face shows a questioning look.

"Let me test my skills now with Vergil and Mundus ... I ought to be able to get a result _there_ ...!"

Again, Futuras closes his eyes. This time, however, he does not look as strained as he did on his first attempt. Moreover, his facial features relax relatively quickly.

"Well, well ..." He finally says with surprise.

"What?"

"It is true ...! ... Your brother ...!"

"Hey?! What about some details!"

"Enter _the Castle of the Master_ and you will see it with your own eyes! The image I'm observing is far too impressive to describe!"

Dante knew that he would pass through this tempting passageway, located at the starting point which shows different directions, during his journey through the demon world at some time. Now that moment seems to have arrived.

"What an encounter!" Futuras continues speaking. "... But wait ...! That woman ...!"

"_Woman?_"

"... This day could not get any better! ... That one day I would be able to experience the being from my visions _so vividly _...!"

_ Hera?! She is in the demon world?! With Vergil?!_

"Okay, enough! Thanks for the chat! Gotta go now!" Dante replies tersely and hurries off.

Startled by Dante's abrupt reaction, Futuras had his eyes opened widely. He barely manages to call after the devil hunter:

"Good luck! ... I will stay here and ... watch!"

Dante hurries through the ice cave. "She's nothing but a troublemaker ..." He murmurs as he then switches to his devil mode to increase his running speed and to reach the cave's exit as quickly as possible.


	19. Mission 19 - Until Universe

**Mission 19**

_Until Universe_

* * *

"All of you really should leave the room now. Even though she's over the worst, she needs a lot of rest and sleep to recover fully. After all, that was a pretty tight thing!" The doctor of the organization says.

"Okay ... If you need somethin', just lemme know", Tyron says as he first looks at Kyrie and then at the man dressed in white.

Kyrie nods tiredly and smiles gently. She lets her head sink further into the pillow of the hospital bed. The doctor also nods once for understanding.

A few hours have passed since Kyrie had to undergo the blood transfusion.

Tyron secludes himself and steps through the door. Trish, sitting on Kyrie's bed, taps briefly and gently on Kyrie's right hand on which a cable from the patient monitor is attached.

"Get well soon."

Then she, too, moves away from her.

"Yeah, get well soon. And don't forget: Dante will work it out."

It is Lady who is speaking, raising her hand for a quick goodbye.

The demon huntresses get another peaceful grin from Kyrie before they both leave the room together.

In the corridor of the infirmary and next to Tyron stands the fighter who carried Kyrie to this place inside the headquarters.

Balthimo's strong appearance is remembered, but the brightly lit corridor makes his muscles seem even more gigantic. His upper body is protected only by a midnight blue muscle armor. His arms are completely uncovered. So it looks like as if his shoulders matched the size of bowling balls and that the muscle armor were about to burst open in the next few seconds. Black cargo pants and black classic boots cover his lower body.

He is armed according to his strength. A massive iron ball attached to an iron bar is partially peeking out to his left side. In order to carry this heavy weapon on his body, he probably needs the many straps that are tied around his muscle armor.

He is about half a head smaller than Tyron, has dark brown stubble hair, and dark brown eyes.

"Your weapons", Balthimo says and hands Lady her rocket launcher and Trish her twin pistols which resemble those of Dante.

Tyron has already received his combat equipment back in the meantime.

"It's totally exaggerated that you have to hand off your weapons for a short visit", Lady complains and snatches her rocket launcher with both hands from Balthimo's. "Now I can clean my baby _again_. It's full of fingerprints from your big _paws_!"

"_Oh, my apologies _..." Balthimo replies ironically. His deep, smoky voice sounds particularly intense.

"That's just how our good doctor is. For him, weapons have no place in a hospital room", Tyron explains and immediately draws his attention to Balthimo. "Oh ... Did someone heard anything from _Prince Charming _yet?"

Balthimo laughs cautiously because of the nickname Tyron has chosen for Raul and says:

"He has only communicated that we're supposed to monitor the situation and stand by, just in case that those strange white things would succumb to the demons, because then it would be us to be on the spot again."

"That's all? No clear instructions to the numbers and distribution of our troops? Where is he, anyway?"

"No, that's all. Every connection fails. Nobody knows where he is. He must've been in the castle recently, but he's not there anymore. Otherwise a colleague had let us know ..."

"He can't be serious with that?! Just because some critters are helping out doesn't mean that everything's cool now and he can fuck off! And before that, he just mixed up all the troops so that nobody has a clue with whom he should work with now! ... _Perfect_!"

"Well, Raul saw fit to adjust every troop because of the strong demon horde ... So everyone stays at his position and in the team which Raul decided last. There must be a reason for all this ..."

"Are you one of those people who still trust him after all what happened? You must've heard over grapevine what he did, right?! I experienced the situation and I can tell you everything _more detailed_ if you like!"

"Calm down and be quiet! We're in an infirmary", Balthimo reminds Tyron.

He groans, but then he nods in understanding.

"I know what happened, but he's still our leader, Tyron ... And we've got other problems right now. We've got to stick together ..."

"... When do all of you finally start to think?" Tyron says in a much softer tone, but no less forceful.

"Tyron ..."

Balthimo wants to place his hands onto his colleague's shoulders but Tyron refuses, slapping his hands away and taking a big step back.

"Do you wanna tell me that it had been okay to kill a colleague just because of the current situation? Moreover, our _real_ leader? We're a team and we hafta stick together, yes, but what Raul's doin' is the exact opposite!"

"No one endorses what happened. Me neither. But on the other hand, I can understand Raul. He wasn't specifically interested in killing Nero, but the demon inside him. In the end, Raul's the current head of Golden Fortuna. We finally know why Nero had withdrawn - unfortunately. Raul's first priority is the population's safety. None of us have ever experienced demon possession stuff like this."

"Then I think it's best if you call a priest! He's brainwashed ya all! Don't you understand, Balthimo? We're _supposed to believe_ that it had been the only way to kill the demon inside of Nero at that time. He wants Nero to disappear from scene to take full control of this joint. That has nothing to do with saving the crowd like _'What does it matter if I take one life to save that of all the others'. _Even if, explain that to Kyrie!"

"Kyrie needs to rest. It's good that she hasn't heard of it yet, and it should stay like this. Where do you get those allegations from? What makes you think like that? Why do you think so badly of Raul?"

"C'mon! Ain't that obvious?! But as brainwashed as you are I do understand that you can't notice!"

"I wonder who of us actually got brainwashed. I better go and make myself useful before this escalates ..."

"That's a _brilliant_ idea!"

Balthimo was about to turn around when he looks back briefly.

"Oh, by the way. When you were with Kyrie, Ion came _limping by_. He wanted to apologize for _what happened the other day_. Maybe you pay him a visit sometime. He's also here in the infirmary. His ribs and his right leg are broken. I guess he didn't get off as easy as you did ..."

With this, the colossal man moves away and walks through the empty corridor of the infirmary to leave it thereafter.

"Pshaw!" Is the only thing Tyron can utter. He turns his body and notices the questioning and confused looks of the demon huntresses. "Sorry for that, ladies ..."

"We better clear off, too ..." Lady replies.

"Yep", Trish agrees.

"But you ain't disturbing! ... I mean, it wouldn't be a problem for us if you both stayed here ..."

"No, it's alright ..." Lady says and passes Tyron.

"You hold the fort here in case anything happens? ... Because of Kyrie?"

"Yeah ... Sure ... I'll take care of her", Tyron nods.

Nervousness seems to be building up inside him.

"Cool", Trish says casually and, according to her verbal expression, walks past Tyron with a slight grin on her face.

"Cool ..." Tyron murmurs and positions himself in front of Kyrie's - temporary - sick chamber.

* * *

A somber place, covered by a grey haze. Nothing new for Dante since this is not the only place in the demon world that seems to be soaked in sadness and depression. The only color that is so intense and that gains in luminosity from the grey surroundings is given off by the red-hot lava which, like a sea, flows to both sides. One could even suspect that the lava comes from the volcano in the _Slave Garden_, as that can be seen far away.

In the foreground but still several meters of Dante away, there is a black gigantic castle with a large tower on each side. Its walls are rather smooth and there are no adornments. In the end, that castle was not built for fairy tales or any other fantasy stuff as this is the home of all evil.

Who knows, however, how many castles Mundus does inhabit and how multifaceted the demon world must be since Dante entered another castle that was connected to the demon world through Mallet Island to confront Mundus many years ago.

A connoisseur of the various architectural styles would describe this castle as built in the Romanesque style, although the castle must have existed since the beginning of life.

A mountain path leads to the building, which Dante is already walking along. It is particularly narrow so that Dante must be extremely careful not to slip. After all, if he was to fall down, he would melt with the glowing mass.

The path before him splits abruptly into several pieces. Dante's quick reactions, however, allow him to become immediately aware of the change and maintain his hasty pace of movement by jumping from chunk to chunk. The closer he gets to the castle, the more treacherous the obstacles become as the floating rocks begin to move back and forth. However, Dante is well versed in that as well, and with a final long jump, he finally manages to land close to the huge gate of the dark castle.

Standing in front of the colossal iron gate, the entire castle seems to him as if the demon world consisted only of this building and thus created a world of its own within the underworld.

He does not even have to touch the gate to make it open inwards. This happens completely automatically, as if he was already expected.

Although the halls, that Dante enters one after the other, leave more than enough empty space for him, each of them have an oppressive atmosphere. The further he makes his way through the castle, the more he has the impression that the building is a spacious labyrinth. One room leads to the next, all of them presenting nothing more than arches and columns, and, of course, a lot of space. Space which Mundus would fill only with his existence and thus could barely move through the castle if he mused about going for a walk.

The only thing that takes a bit of Dante's freedom of movement are the demons that get in his way about every thirtieth yard he has run, and where he now has to slaughter his way through again. That does not bother him, however. After all, he had been in more unfavorable situations in the past, and also in terms of patience, he had challenging trainings, lastly that one on the beach of Fortuna because of the enormous group of demons that stormed through the open hell gate.

With time, however, this castle also runs out of rooms and Dante reaches a corridor that leads him up circularly. Here, too, various demon attacks set in which Dante can overcome in order to afterwards follow another passage on which long end opens up an unfavorable image for him.

He passes the last yards and finally reaches the huge semicircular hall, which turns out to be the place for an encounter with several characters known to him.

Most of the hall is filled by the stony version of Mundus with a ripped, heartless chest area. He is kneeling down. Behind him and on a lofty gallery, it is _him_ standing there, grinning joyfully because of Dante's arrival.

"Vergil ..."

"Welcome to my party! I'm glad you're here! We were all waiting just for _you_! This time, everything's even prepared! Not like the years before! Look what great guests we have! Our good friend here, Mundus, has taken extra time for us! Hera and Nero have also joined the party! Well, at least they're present physically ...!"

On the wall above and a bit further away from Vergil, Hera is hanging in a position as if she were nailed to a cross. She does not have any body tension and her head is tilted down.

Vergil points with his head down to the left to draw attention to Nero lying on the ground next to the gallery. The _Devil Bringer_ seems to be without energy, as well as its bearer.

"I was about to kill him! All honorable in a sword fight of course! It's just quite inconvenient if you can't control the demon powers that you have only available on loan ...! Then all of a sudden, Hera showed up like someone who wanted to run amok! She was seriously planning to seal my soul in her blade after my physical death! ... So that I wouldn't be able _to cause any more trouble_ ...!" This gives Vergil a short moment of amusement. "As if _she_ could ever defeat _me_ ...!"

_ So this is what Hera meant by her 'plan b'._

"You had given her a lot of false self-awareness with your false claims about her life task and all that other _Blood Angel stuff_! But we both know that nothing remarkable will happen with her in the end!"

"Oh, you seem to be very good informed!"

"At least I am better than before! The demon world really does have some helpful informants ...! I wouldn't have thought so back then! Just like I once thought that you had always been the honest one of us who didn't need to tell any tales!"

Vergil keeps his grin up all the time. It widens even further after what Dante said.

"You were with Futuras! Excellent! Then you're finally up to date after all these years as well! Without me, you had probably never known all this! You're welcome!" He supports himself on his sword, which he keeps in its scabbard, and continues speaking: "But now tell me, Dante! Are you as excited as I am because of our reunion?!"

"I'm absolutely bubbling over with joy! But you really didn't have to trouble yourself on my account ...! A reunion in private had been totally enough for me!"

"Nah! Only the best for you! Or have you already passed the party age?! You look _old_ ...!"

"But you look even fresher with your _baby face_! Seems like the little break did you a lot of good ...!"

Even from such a distance, Dante can recognize Vergil's smooth and youthful facial features thanks to his supernaturally sharp vision. It is as if his twin brother, who is now easier to distinguish from him because of the visible difference in age, had never fallen victim to Mundus and had entered a time machine and travelled here immediately after the event with Arkham in his young adulthood.

"So it's time to get back on track! ... What's actually up with you, Mundus?! I've never seen you this dumb! Don't you wanna say hello to our special guest?!"

The former ruler of the underworld is merely snarling with discontent.

Vergil just wants to pull his katana out of its scabbard when Mundus gradually rises, his skull almost touching the ceiling which is about 110 yards high.

Satisfied, the new king of the underworld lowers his weapon. Mundus apparently now _wants_ to obey.

"I've been saving him just for you! But he shouldn't be a problem for you! After all, you already defeated Mundus once, and now he lacks the powers of a ruler! So you can do it a second time, which will be also the last ...!"

Mundus spreads out his arms and suddenly the room gets filled with white, bright light. As the light fades to change to a darker color contrast, everything around Dante and Mundus has disappeared; even those persons who were present a moment ago.

For Dante, the environment appears as if he was drawn into the depths of the universe - with corresponding darkness and an infinite number of stars, planets, moons, asteroids and meteoroids. It is that environment which revealed in his first battle against Mundus.

Dante is standing on one of the countless planets. Mundus is far away from him, just like then. His gaze is focused on Dante.

"I'm tired of seeing your damn mugs! Far too long now I have to deal with you pests! This time it was carried to extremes! _He_ took my throne! Now I'm under _his_ control! What a _disgrace_! But I will get my throne back! I will make you all suffer for this! I am the only true ruler of the underworld! Me and no one else!" Mundus roars. "He's already expecting that you're going to prevail over me! He can't wait for your fight! He has that much brotherly love left for you! But what am I seeing?! Daddy can't protect you this time! Vergil has his sword, and with it, his power! Poor Dante is all alone now ...!"

"Don't worry about me! I'm a big boy and I can take care of myself! But I understand, you just want to distract from your fear! You're scared shitless of turnin' into nothin' more than a sole two thousand year old memory after _goin' west_! 'Cuz in the end, you wouldn't die as Mundus, the demon king, but as Vergil's _minion_!"

"I will shut up your sordid mouth!"

Mundus immediately shoots several glaring balls of energy in Dante's direction and also lets lightning bolts appear above Dante. Agile as Dante is, he can escape these attacks. Some attacks are even intercepted by the components of the _universe_ and forwarded accordingly, until the energy streams and lightning disappear into nothingness. Also, some moons, stars, and planets have shifted which Dante can now use to approach Mundus.

Indeed, the situation was easier for him back then. If only from the point of view that he could reduce the distance between Mundus and him by using Sparda's demon form which allowed him to fly. Now he has to cover the distance on foot.

He jumps from star to star, from moon to moon, from planet to planet, and from asteroid to asteroid, so as not to be swallowed by the black nothing of the _universe_ and hit by Mundus' distance attacks. That this cannot be the real universe is made clear by the size of the individual components of the cosmos. Those planets, stars, etc. are much too small and much too close together to allow a journey through space of several light years. However, the feeling that approaching Mundus would take light years, remains for Dante.

Every now and then he makes use of his _Devil Trigger_ to shorten the _galaxy hopping_ as much as possible. Basically, he wants to save his energy for the actual fight, so that he does not stay in his stronger form for too long.

Abruptly, his cudgel, which he had won through Abylum, comes to his mind. There is no better opportunity than this to finally test the weapon. While running and jumping, he strikes out with it. He can easily beat away the asteroids that are in his way as well as the lightning and energy balls created by Mundus. In the moment when he wonders what else the weapon is capable of, the thick, bulging layer of the weapon loosens and lets four long tentacles emerge which Dante can steer and whip in any direction at will. This reflects the special attack of Abylum, who was able to steal or deprive abilities with his tentacles, but Dante is skeptical if he could do the same with this weapon. After all, the function of the tentacle allows him to stop Mundus' attacks even better, and he now has a considerable advantage in terms of movement. Due to the long range of the tentacles and the suction cups attached to them, the tentacles adhere to the respective components of the universe, and so he can move planets and co. accordingly, and completely adjust his path towards Mundus.

To Dante's surprise, Mundus pulls the sun towards himself by means of a suction out of sheer destructive fury, grabs it with both hands despite its burning heat, brings it behind his head and lets the bright yellow star rush in Dante's direction with great momentum. The demon hunter makes an unwanted and reflex-like movement with his arm, in whose hand he holds the cudgel, and already, by mistake, four tentacles shoot towards the sun and adhere on it. Dante has no more time to think about combat tactics, so he lets his instinct guide him which ultimately leads him to hold the cudgel's stick with both hands and to pull the weapon far back to his right side as if he were powerfully swinging his bat in baseball. The glowing sun moves with him and the tentacles pull the star past Dante on the side. The only thing that bothers him is the burning heat as he pushes the cudgel forwards with momentum to make the tentacles let go of the sun and send it straight back to Mundus.

A white light shines on Mundus' forehead and when a bright beam is shot out, the sun shatters into a thousand glowing pieces that fly through the entire _universe_. Dante fends off the burning chunks with his tentacles, or even with a simple blow of his cudgel.

Dante then uses his weapon to once again smooth his way towards his opponent which has been disrupted by Mundus' attack with the sun. Having covered the last bit of distance and dodged further energy balls and lightning, Dante finally enters an area of the _universe_ that could represent _the_ _Milky Way_ in whose middle Mundus can be found. _The_ _Milky Way_ as a round disk seems to give Dante foothold, so that he no longer has to play the game with the planets to not to fall into nothingness.

Here, too, Mundus lets obstacles arise to keep Dante away from him. Be it _balls of energy_ which, on the one hand, appear randomly on the _Milky Way_ \- in Mundus' hope that Dante will step into them - and, on the other hand, are built up as a protective barrier, so that Dante has to destroy them with blows if he wants to continue to approach Mundus, or lightning attacks; Dante is in any case well occupied. Especially the attacks in which Mundus discharges electrical power on Dante are particularly annoying this time, because the lightning take different forms. He has to avoid them like on an obstacle course. On top of that, Mundus uses fisticuffs. Though these vigorous hits, _the Milky Way_ remains stable. Then he lets his red laser power, which previously appeared in the form of three red dots, always represented as a triangle, take effect.

Because of the many obstructions, Dante has chosen _Rebellion_ as his primary weapon. This destroys the barriers in an instant, and so he is able to damage Mundus' body, although he is not allowed to let his wave of attacks last long as the former demon king drives him back with fisticuffs, only to create another protective barrier. When Dante breaks Mundus' barricade once more, he finds use for the cudgel again. To prevent Mundus from using his fists, the devil hunter lets the tentacles of the cudgel shoot in the direction of Mundus' hands. These get fixed on the ground, and as Dante pulls the cudgel back, Mundus' upper body comes closer to him. Holding the cudgel in his left hand, he brings out _Rebellion_ again with his right, jumps into the air, activates his devil mode, and hits the head of the colossal demon several times.

Mundus has to deal with a lot of harm, but he finally puts an end to these wave of attacks when he can free his hands from the tentacles' fetters with his laser beams and flail around wildly with his fists and energy balls. Thanks to his still active _Devil Trigger_ the _Son of Sparda_ manages to flash through the air several times in different directions and thus escape the attacks. As long as he can use the power of his higher form, he tries to fix Mundus' body once more with the tentacles of his cudgel or even to do a different attack, which the weapon might offer aside of all the assaults he used so far, but Mundus interrupts all plans of the devil hunter.

He snatches Dante and lets him thunder against the ground of the _Milky Way_. This makes Dante's devilish mode dissolve, and he loses his weapons. Both _Rebellion_ and his cudgel fly through empty space, only to finally float, without any gravity, through the _universe_ and near the _Milky Way_. Mundus then pulls his head back a little bit. His forehead glows white and from that energy, a glaring ray of light shoots at Dante. He can only just roll aside, but because of the immense strength of this attack, the round platform of the _Milky Way_ turns, so that it now is upside down. The demon hunter does not find foothold and so he falls down, deeper into the black nothing as the force of weightlessness sets in, preventing him from falling down even further. Without any control, he now floats around. There is nothing to push himself off and to get back to the area of the _Milky Way_ in doing so where the law of gravity seems to apply.

Mundus laughs and flaps his wings joyfully. He seems to enjoy the sight of a helpless Dante. Due to the gust of wind that Mundus causes with his fluttering wings, Dante is pushed further and further away from the area of the Milky Way. So his weapons also move with him. Practically, the cudgel drifts right in Dante's vicinity, as if a higher power wanted to help him out with this weapon. He flips over as best as he can to bring his upper body even closer to the weapon, and stretches his right hand far towards the cudgel. Finally, he can grab it. _Rebellion_ floats through space not far away from him and so he takes a big swing with his cudgel and lets the tentacles extend, with that bringing his favorite weapon back to him. He puts his broadsword away and takes another big swing with his cudgel. The tentacles shoot towards _the_ _Milky Way_, stick to the round platform, and so Dante can quickly return to this area.

As he touches the platform of _the_ _Milky Way_ with his boots, Mundus' laughter reduces. The giant demon pulls his head back again. He seems to have planned another round with a weightless Dante, but the moment Mundus' forehead lights up, Dante switches from his cudgel to _Rebellion_ without wasting any time for thinking, uses the remaining energy of his devil mode, and throws his sword with full force in the direction of Mundus' forehead. The sword's trajectory draws a red, glowing ray, resulting from Dante's devilish power. The sword gets further propelled by the bullets of his pistols which he releases to increase the speed and thrust of his broadsword. The bright light on Mundus' forehead increases, and the point of the sword stabs in right there.

A cry, echoing through the entire universe, is elicited by Mundus. The red and white light have merged and shattered Mundus' forehead. The giant seem to be trying to balance his weight, but his body tilts forward far too much, so that his hands land massively on the platform of the _Milky Way_. Dante, who now presents himself in his human form again, does not have to move an inch, because Mundus' body stops sinking down. The former demon king's head hangs just above Dante. What an advantageous position.

Because of Mundus' partially broken head, Dante can locate his sword which sticks in the back area of the skull.

Dante jumps onto it and extracts his sword to immediately making further sword blows. The skull of the former demon king gets more and more destroyed, so that gradually Mundus' true core, consisting of lumpy magma, crystallizes.

"There you are, Mr. Ugly! Looking okay on the outside, but shitty on the inside!" Dante teases.

One of the three eyeballs that are probably responsible for Mundus' most dangerous attacks _behind the scenes_, such as the red laser beams and the devastating white ray, stares at Dante.

"It's not over yet! Keep talking big as long as you can! When I'm through with you, no one will recognize you as Dante, because your rotten remains will be scattered all over my kingdom!"

"Hah! I let you stay in your fantasy world! Taking that from you as a _goner_ would really be too much!"

"DIIIIIIEEEEE!"

The magma in Mundus' stony body begins to overflow and swell out of it. Dante is forced to desist from Mundus' skull. The red-hot mass flows over the stony body. Despite the incredible heat, Mundus' outer form does not dissolve; it is only steaming. The mass flows down to the _Milky Way_, and then gushes into the _universe_ like a waterfall - a _lava fall_, so to say.

From a distance and standing behind Mundus, Dante has already started concentrated firepower with his twin pistols. Finally, he feels the temperature rising beneath his feet. He rolls to the side and from the platform of the _Milky Way_, a huge and wide jet of lava is shooting out. Its force lasts for quite a while when it suddenly rushes back down; as if the nothingness had first welcomed the lava but then repelled it after a short time so that it came shooting through _the Milky Way platform_.

After his short evasive maneuver, Dante has resumed the distance attack. Now, however, he has to give way again for another lava flow. Apprehending that this state of fight is going to continue, Dante jumps into the air and hits Mundus with his broadsword, damaging his stony back and also his glowing true core as the hard outer form begins to crumble more and more due to Dante's attacks. Eventually, Dante notices that the magma from the _lava fall_ on the _Milky Way platform_ is expanding. In addition to the lava jets that is suddenly shooting out from the ground, Dante gets thus also considerably restricted in his space on the _Milky Way_ by the spreading lava. The embers is spreading further and further, and this is the moment for Dante where time play begins. He cannot keep himself in the air forever despite his highly developed dexterity - and Mundus' lava-covered body is no longer a good choice for a short _stopover_.

"I see! You wanna light fire under my ass! Well, I don't mind speed! Then I'll be done with you sooner!" Dante shouts to Mundus, jumps back to one little free area of the _Milky Way_ for a split second of pause, only to return immediately to the air and attack him.

He repeats that several times, and when the _Milky Way_ is finally completely engulfed by lava, he activates his devil mode, which has since recharged, and uses its power to stay in the air for a longer time. Mundus' back side has been so badly affected in the meantime that it no longer exists, except for the back part of his legs, so that Mundus' magma core spreads on the _Milky Way_ even more. In this manner, however, the real Mundus - or the red lump to express it differently - suffers damage all the more. To make everything even worse for Mundus, Dante manages to switch sides as he pushes himself through the air and close to the demon's eye balls.

The three eyes of Mundus' true form squint in different directions, although they still get attacked by Dante. The right eye looks to the right, the left eye to the left and the upper one in the middle looks ahead where Dante is. The lava on the _Milky Way_ begins to bubble and splash more and more as it finally begins to rise as a unified mass; like a wave trying to crash onto Dante. The demon hunter does not stop swinging _Rebellion_ around at rapid speed and as massive as he can. Eventually, the eyes lose their power of resistance and weaken, so that Dante succeeds in stabbing _Rebellion_ into every pupil of the three eyes, which lastly destroys them.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Mundus yells with a distorted voice.

Dante scurries upwards, risking to lose his body control outside the Milky Way region due to weightlessness, and the lava wave breaks. The lava spills over Mundus' remaining stony body, leaving a lake of lava in the universe together with Mundus' red core, and also silence.

Dante's vision gets distorted and the dark universe dissolves into brightness, so that he eventually finds himself back in the _Castle of the Master_, with Vergil but without Mundus.


	20. M20: Red and Blue - Enemies for Life

**Mission 20**

* * *

_Red and Blue - Enemies for a Lifetime_

* * *

After a brief glance at Dante who is looking at him out of breath and with _Rebellion_ in his hand, Vergil moves his head - from his position - slightly to the right; to the area Mundus had filled with his presence. He lets his gaze rest there a little longer, and gradually his wicked grin returns.

"Congratulations", Vergil says, drawing his attention to Dante as if he had wanted to first wait and see if Mundus would return from the battlefield of the _in-between world_. "So, how does it feel to have accomplished what our father did only temporarily?"

"Quite nice. But I'm really lookin' forward to bring _this_ to an end ..."

"It's surprising that you're optimistic about death ..." Vergil says and jumps down from the mighty gallery.

_Yamato's_ blade shoots down on Dante from above and hits the ground when Dante rolls to the side. He must immediately use his broadsword because Vergil whirls his katana wildly around; eager of catching Dante. The blades clash against each other countless times, always at a rapid pace. Moments pass in which the two fight a heated sword duel.

Vergil's fighting style has always been calm and deliberate. However, if you got attacked by him, you had to suffer brute and powerful sword blows, whereas Dante, as an excellent counterpart to him, has always been able to take advantage of nimble and dynamic battles. It was this very antagonism that added a great deal of suspense to the fights between the two brothers, making the other a tricky and venerable opponent. Using their devilish powers, their resistance was all the more impressive, and yet it did not shorten their confrontations.

Also in this duel, Vergil's special talents, which must have expanded, become apparent. He has gained speed. After all, Dante cannot remember that Vergil had had such a high speed back then. It seems as if he had become a _live wire_ or as if a power source was supplying him with additional energy that enables him to perform such a feat.

In the past, Vergil was capable of sword strokes of this kind at most in the devil mode, which he, apparently, has not activated at the moment; if he still has that version or if he still needs it at all, now that Vergil is a complete demon and thus has mature powers. Above all, however, he is the demon king who offers Dante a powerful start in their conflict.

While Dante swings his sword to stand up to Vergil, he still has a few milliseconds left here and there, despite the energetic struggle, in which he can marvel at the three metal rings that, as a kind of _brass knuckles_, embrace the last three fingers of each hand. These rings feel unusual and disturb him a bit. Especially on his right hand with which he wields his sword. Where do these rings suddenly come from?

The violent skirmish pauses and a trial of strength begins. They both look into each other's ice-blue eyes. Finally, Vergil pushes Dante away with his blade, giving himself time and space to fill his left hand with Sparda's sword which he lets emerge from nowhere.

Armed with two blades, Vergil continues the sword fight. This increases the intensity of the confrontation once again, and Dante now has to assert himself more strongly. The demon hunter is sure, however, that this phase is also only for warming up.

Every time Dante feels that his arms begin to weaken, he holds on a little longer, and that is when he succeeds in doing the best and strongest blows. It is as if an external force provided him with even more endurance in the appropriate moments and supported him in his style of the _Sword Master_. Here and there he also uses fisticuffs which indeed have an effect. These kind of attacks happen surprisingly; not only for Vergil, but also for Dante himself. He would never think of attacking with his fists - unless he had a corresponding devil's weapon for it.

Vergil lets _Yamato_ and his father's sword come from both sides and is about to chop the two blades into Dante's flesh when the devil hunter suddenly strikes _Rebellion_ into the ground, bends his arms, and builds up a protective wall on both sides according to his _Royal Guard-style_. Thus Vergil does not hit Dante, but his blades do not bounce off Dante's protection either, which would most likely be the case with any other opponent.

He continues fighting against Dante's slightly reddish barrier while his brother gives everything to keep it stable. A blue energy surrounds Vergil's swords and Dante feels the increased strength of his opponent. In the end, Dante can no longer offer any resistance and his protection dissolves. The blades race towards Dante and at the last moment, he jumps far into the air, or better said, _something makes him_ taking the leap. He has taken his broadsword with him.

It would have been an ideal counter-attack if Dante had hit Vergil with the blow he executed while jumping up, but unfortunately Vergil was aware of that assault in time so that he, too, could block.

Dante is increasingly strengthened in his assumption that a magical force supports him. Every time he starts to get weak, this supernatural magic continues to work in his body as if from nowhere, making him perform actions that are needed at that very moment. Could this have something to do with these _brass knuckles_? Could it be Mundus' power that optimizes his fighting strength?

From a height, Dante fires about a dozen shots from his twin guns which Vergil can beat away with his swords easily. When Dante rushes down with his melee weapon ahead and straight for Vergil, he bounces off a blue and purple barrier that pushes him away. The force hurls him against one of the mighty room's walls.

If the brass knuckles should indeed hold Mundus' power, he must not rely 100% on this _equipment_, as the situation has just shown.

The protective barrier around Vergil becomes more and more dense, so that he is eventually no longer visible at all. Suddenly this accumulated form of energy shoots towards Dante and he can just recognize Vergil's blue body from his devil mode as he throws himself to the side and then pushes off in the air to keep a greater distance to the energy.

That power hits the wall and destroys large parts in that place, but there is not enough energy to make a hole. Dante lands near Nero, who is still motionless, and gives him a quick glance before turning to Vergil.

Vergil's _Devil Trigger_ is not only - as usual - characterized by the color blue, which stands for his person, but this mode also shows rough similarities to the one from the past. An immediately recognizable difference to the former version is the _crown of the head_ which can really be described as such.

The upper part of the _"Y-head"_ which used to be silver and represented Vergil's hairstyle is now golden and has prongs at the top; just like a crown, as if his devil mode had adapted to his new role as the demon king. His skin is scaly like a reptile and shows several shades of blue and grey. The bright white eyes are even more striking. He has grown in size a bit compared to the past and could approximately be ten feet tall. He also has gained muscles. The right upper body is exposed while the left half is surrounded by a kind of _protective shield_.

The _shield_, or _protective armor_, is pointed, angular, and consists of long, crooked thorns. His left arm also finds protection underneath. However, this does not necessarily mean that his arm is restricted in its movement due to the robust shield because Vergil plays around with the _Sparda-Sword_ quite demonstratively, as if he could hardly wait for the fight to continue and as if he wanted to keep his wrist warm for that.

Already the frontal view of his presence reveals that the protective armor extends at the rear since this very armor protrudes to the right and left of his legs, reproducing the shape of beetle wings that give the impression that Vergil could rise into the air at any moment. His strong legs are surrounded by smoother scales, and in some places they leave room for blue light which traces those ornaments that were depicted on Vergil's coat.

Abruptly, he raises both his arms to thrust the swords into the ground. The ground underneath Vergil freezes and, as a result, kind of an _ice wave_ shoots towards Dante and Nero. The demon hunter grabs Nero's upper body, throws the young man over his right shoulder, and flees up with him. He lands on the gallery which lower wall has got also partly taken over by ice. Up there, he puts Nero down and approaches the railing of the gallery.

"Is _His Serene Highness_ already that desperate because he can't get me that he must let off steam on _the Sleepin' Beauty_?!" Dante calls down to Vergil.

A calm laugh, accompanied by the sound of a metallic voice, emanates from Vergil in response to Dante's remark.

"I'm not desperate, I just wanna see you dance!"

Dante feels the coldness under his feet and immediately rolls to the side. A huge ice crystal shoots out of the gallery's ground and rushes up to the high ceiling of the hall to grow on it. Dante has to dodge further and further as the next ice giants break out of the ground. When there are no more ice crystals arising, Dante stops his movements to address a few more words to Vergil:

"You better heat up the dance floor instead of freezin' it! One can't dance so well in the cold! Seems like you lack abilities of a party king! But hey, don't worry about that! I _gladly_ take over for you!"

Saying these words, Dante also switches to his devil mode and chooses his fiery nunchaku as a weapon for the further battle. He jumps down, with the burning sickle ahead, and Vergil approaches him.

Dante's sickle strikes against Vergil's body's own protective shield. However, this armor is much too robust to be damaged by a mere stroke, so Vergil makes a simple counterattack and pushes Dante away. The man in red flips over in the air while Vergil makes further nimble strokes with both swords which Dante, still being upside down, can block with his weapon. He has not only to fend off _Yamato_ and his father's sword, which is also turned against him this time, but also the many bright blue blades that are automatically conjured up by every stroke Vergil makes. Therefore, Dante's nunchaku is always in action. For better protection, he uses his protective barrier from the fighting style of _Royal Guard_ now and then.

The physically existing swords continue to clash against Dante's weapon. The magical blades get thrown straight back to Vergil by Dante, but the demon king does not seem to be concerned about that.

While Vergil keeps Dante busy, ice is shooting out of the ground. Dante reacts in time with his nimble style of _Trickster_. This jet of ice is even more powerful than the previous attacks as the entire ceiling of the hall gets iced. In this attack on the part of Vergil, Dante has now also noticed that his brother actually triggers this kind of attack with his bright white eyes.

Still in the air, Dante collects his strength for another assault. He chooses _Rebellion_ as his second weapon to emulate Vergil and uses them to do a crossed sword thrust. This not only sets off a wave of fire against Vergil but it also causes fire wings to grow on Dante's back.

With a conjured up ice layer as Vergil's protection, the fire wave thunders against it, and the flames evaporate.

"Too bad! It could've been really good ..." Dante says to himself, his voice also sounding demonic.

Now it is Vergil again who takes the lead in the fight. For a short time he uses blue energy, appearing as a _vortex of water_, to chase Dante. His brother, however, evades skillfully. Immediately, the ice comes into play again as sharp ice crystals come loose from the ceiling and crash down on Dante - further obstacles he has to dodge or hit away.

Of course, Dante wants to stay in control of the situation and so he assaults Vergil with more fire waves and balls in parallel to keep Vergil occupied. He also imitates a Vergil-like attack by creating magical blades, except that they get conjured up after Dante's abilities, so they burn red. He also sends them as a _love greeting_ to Vergil.

And so the brothers deliver a battle consisting mainly of fire and ice.

In the meantime, Vergil has risen into the air to his brother. Thus it became clear to Dante that the armor which protects Vergil's entire back does not only have this protective function but also does justice to the image of the beetle's wings - only in a more robust form - in that the armor gives him the ability to fly.

Through the use of ice by Vergil, the hall is more and more transformed into an _icy landscape_. Dante can _fire_ as much as he wants; the ice does not melt and he certainly does not succeed in enchanting this room into a second _Fire Hell_.

When the hall is completely frozen, except for the floor of the gallery and the wall behind it - probably purely out of mercy towards Hera and Nero -, Vergil increasingly applies his _water vortex energy_.

"Is this gonna be an underwater world now?!" Dante comments.

Vergil grins mischievously, although his grin is not clearly to indentify due to his changed face from the _Devil Trigger_.

"I hope you brought your water wings!"

"Oh, I don't need them! I'm a good swimmer!"

As Dante moves ever closer to Vergil to prevent further long-range attacks by his brother and to hopefully switch back to swordplay, Dante unleashes a powerful lightning strike after whirling _Rebellion_ around which indeed hits Vergil and shakes him.

_"Not bad"_, Dante thinks and has to let go of his _Devil Trigger_ mode when he lands from high above on the icy ground.

Vergil also moves down to the ground. But of course he remains in his higher form which is probably endlessly maintained for him.

"I thought you wanted to turn up the party?! The few sparks of you don't really help, as you can see! Maybe you just give me a second chance to prove myself as a host?! Because I have a great idea for a _party game_ ...!"

Standing sideways to the gallery, Vergil stretches out his right arm and points with the tip of _Yamato_ in that direction. Dante follows with his eyes and notices that Nero and Hera are beginning to move.

Nero slowly rises from the ground and staggers forward. The railing of the gallery prevents him from stumbling even further. Judging by the expression of his face, he must still be completely muddled. It seems as if he cannot fully capture the present moment and the image that emerges for him with Vergil and Dante down there. Despite the fact that he has almost come to his senses, the _Devil Bringer_ remains dark.

Behind him on the wall, Hera is also coming to consciousness. She has lifted her head and her eyes are looking down; she herself being in daze, too. Her hands and feet still seem to be weak as they hang limply.

"... A dual battle", Vergil continues speaking, focusing on Dante. "You get Hera. I stay with my _favorite human_, Nero. We gonna have _so much_ _fun_ together ..."

All of a sudden, Hera's fetters are opening.

Milliseconds after the fetters burst open, Dante, using his devilish form which just got available for this sprint, dashes towards Hera. He reaches her right in time to catch her just above the ground and puts her down gently.

"H ... Hera?" Nero stammers. He has turned around to her.

"Nero ..." She says and uses Dante's shoulder to stand up.

In the background, Dante notices Vergil's eyes becoming brighter and immediately Nero gets torn through the railing and pulled down by an invisible force.

"NERO!" Hera yells and pushes Dante aside as the marble railing hits the floor, shattering into many pieces.

The demon hunter, however, can grab her by the wrist in time and stop her from jumping down.

"Calm down, my dear ...!" Vergil replies, slowly moving towards Nero who is lying on the ground. "There's no need to be scared ...!"

Once briefly tapped on the ground with _Yamato's_ sharp blade, they reappear: Nero's red shining eyes. The _Devil Bringer_ also gains in luminosity. As if by remote control, the young man stands up and pulls out his sword. With a stiff expression, he looks towards Hera and Dante.

"Well then ...! Off to the next round ...!" Vergil grins.

"This game is startin' to get really nasty, Vergil! Is that your new style?!" Dante calls down, but the mischievous grin of his twin brother remains.


	21. Mission 21 - Double Fight

**Mission 21**

* * *

_Double Fight_

* * *

_N__ero_ starts to sprint and jumps high up in the air. When he lands on the gallery, he rams his sword in the ground. There is nothing more to cut as Hera and Dante could dodge to both sides. _Nero_ continues using his sword, whirling it around wildly. First to the left towards Hera, then right towards Dante. Both block the strokes with their swords. After _Nero's_ attention was briefly focused on Dante and his sword crossed that of him, he abruptly switches to Hera. As one is accustomed from Nero, his attacks are dynamic, so that it requires quick reactions on Hera's part.

Just when it seems as if _Nero_ had gotten _his teeth into fighting Hera_ as she were his personal opponent and Dante wants to take advantage of the moment to jump down to Vergil, _Nero_ wields his _Red Queen_ and pulls Dante back into the _rain of attacks_. He cuts through the columns of ice reaching up to the ceiling and which are the result of Vergil's previous assaults. Several ice shards and chunks of ice flit through the air. Also some severed columns of ice detach from the ceiling and drop down. _Nero_ manages to use the frozen constructs for his attacks by throwing or hitting them in Dante's direction with his _Devil Bringer_. They thunder against the hard floor and shatter into smaller pieces as Dante evades them.

"Nero!" Hera exclaims, hoping that her voice reaches her half-brother's subconscious and that it stops Vergil's _control spell_.

Hera already used this method in her first fight against _Nero_ on the beach and even if it didn't work at that time, it might work now.

_Nero_, however, fights on persistently and does not let his focus shift from Dante.

"... I'm so sick of you!" Hera shouts to Vergil who is literally waiting to receive her down there.

Meanwhile, Dante makes a particularly powerful blow whereupon _Nero_ staggers backwards and in front of Hera's feet.

"It's best if everyone stays with his sibling", Dante says to Hera and wants to use the resulting free space and jump down to Vergil, but immediately _Nero_ thwarts him with his _Devil Bringer_.

With a conjured extension of his demon arm, he grabs Dante by the torso and throws him towards the wall that adjoins the gallery and where Hera was chained a few moments ago. While the _flight_, Dante makes use of his agility and thus prevents himself from hitting the stone wall.

"Why don't we just mix it up?! My _dance_ with Hera wasn't finished ...!" Vergil calls with a mischievous grin, and as if he had given Nero a command by thought control, he runs towards Dante and attacks him again to keep him near the wall.

_Nero_ succeeds with his techniques quite well. Dante cannot get past him, no matter what tricks he uses. Obviously, Vergil is completely the master over Nero, so that he also enriches him with a higher fighting power.

Standing at the edge of the gallery's broken railing, Hera turns her body to Vergil. In doing so, she also turns away from the conflict between Dante and _Nero_, at the same time ignoring the warning head-shaking directed at her by Dante. She equips herself with _Soul_.

"Hey!" Dante shouts to her but in no time at all Hera has put herself into the balanced _Blood Angel_ mode and flits down to the _King of the Underworld_.

Vergil crosses his two swords as protection against Hera's attack. Although she is unable to inflict physical damage on Vergil, she can push him back several feet due to her fast approach. Already when Hera stormed towards Vergil, a wall consisting of white, electrically charged spheres had formed behind him. So it wasn't primarily Hera's plan to hurt Vergil, but to push him into that _wall of spheres_. Exactly one step back from Vergil is now needed to make Hera's plan work.

He finally gives her the answer by forcibly pushing her back and up to the ceiling. Having regained control of her body, Hera wants to storm towards Vergil again, but now he, too, rises up, evades there, and lets her thunder into the _wall of spheres_ summoned by herself, just that Vergil has turned it into ice in the meantime.

Hera rushes through the wall with her enormous speed and is immediately confronted with the next one; this time it is the one of the room. However, she does not fall victim to this wall, so she pushes herself off there and dashes straight back to her opponent, destroying the rest of the _orb barrier_ with a sword stroke.

Near the ceiling, they are fighting their sword duel which is occasionally accompanied by magic attacks. Then they are using all the space the hall offers, except for that of the gallery.

After all, the gallery's space is needed by Dante and _Nero_. The devil hunter still tries to cope with the young man but it seems not to be that easy as _Nero_ almost acts like Dante's mirror image; thus Dante feels forced to use his _Devil Trigger_ to put an end to the parallel actions of his opponent. After calling up this version, things are already going better for Dante, but he still cannot free himself from the impasse created by _Nero_.

"Sorry, buddy, but I gotta do it this way ..." Dante says in a demonic voice and hits Nero's _Red Queen_ with his fist.

The sword is fully taken by electric current, and so is the body of its owner. The electric shock paralyzes Nero and gives Dante time to move up to Vergil and Hera.

As if the electric shock to _Nero_ had weakened Vergil as well, Dante watches on his way through the air how Hera successfully attacks Vergil; all of Hera's summoned arrows rain down on Vergil. The devil hunter also wants to take advantage of this moment of Vergil's weakness and sends a fiery hail of bullets in the direction of his brother. Vergil, however, can muster up enough energy to fend off this attack. He is also able to block Dante's sword blows with the _Sparda sword_ in his left hand and to keep Hera busy at the same time with _Yamato_.

Vergil abruptly spreads his wings, and with that his protective armor. As a result, Vergil's left side is better protected, so that he no longer needs a sword to protect his body from Dante's onslaughts. His two blades are now completely directed against Hera. He fights emphatically, but his blows are also slower. Nevertheless, five strokes are enough to make the _Blood Angel_ hit the ground with the last blow.

Dante wants to switch to Vergil's right side which has become free after he realizes that he cannot break the armor in any way, but Vergil does not even allow Dante to change sides and pushes him back with his swords only to knock him down to the ground with his robust armor also.

The ungentle landing on the ground has torn both Dante and Hera out of their higher forms, and when they stand up in their human appearance, _Nero_ storms towards them. The group battle desired by Vergil now actively takes place as he floats down to the fighting parties and thus enters the battle arena.

With aggressive techniques, in which he increasingly uses his _Devil Bringer_, _Nero_ takes on Hera while Vergil fights Dante in close proximity. Hera currently cannot do anything but to evade and block _Nero's_ attacks. This alone, however, turns out to be a tricky business for her. It happens quite quickly that she is grabbed by _Nero's_ summoned extension of the demon arm. Shortly before he wants to throw her through the room, Dante interferes and strikes against the blue appearance of the _Devil Bringer_, so that _Nero's_ magic power is interrupted and he has to release Hera.

Not hesitating a second, Vergil intervenes and lets a wave filled with darkness emerge from the ground and sends it in the direction of Dante and Hera. The _Blood Angel_ builds up a protective wall which also covers Dante since the devil hunter still fights _Nero_ with his back to Vergil and would thus be more easily exposed to the attack of the _Demon King_.

The wave bounces off the protective wall and sloshes back to the ground. Dante uses the momentum due to his previous sword stroke and makes his weapon clash against Nero's. The young man falls back and slides across the icy ground.

Meanwhile, Vergil has broke Hera's wall with a brute frontal attack. Just as he is about to continue his series of attacks, Dante quickly switches to his _nunchaku_ and creates a wave of fire against Vergil. The _Demon King_ can evade it, but with that he is now cut off from Hera. Dante now switches back to _Rebellion_ and storms towards Vergil to attract his attention and force him to stay in defense mode.

Indeed, Vergil is now well occupied with self-defense, so that Hera makes another attempt to create a magic trap for Dante's brother. This is also supposed to contain bright energy to counteract the darkness emanating from Vergil. Since Dante buys her more time to create a more effective power, she can concentrate her forces accordingly, and in no time a bright white light has appeared behind Vergil.

As intense as the brightness of the sun's rays and as sharp as needles, the energy penetrates Vergil's back in a dizzying array. His body visibly twitches. This, however, is not meant to be already it. The glaring light extends over Vergil which makes him disappear in it for a short time and when the light spits him out again, he painfully crashes to the ground.

Dante and Hera look at each other silently. It seems as if they were communicating with each other by thought and at the same time praising each other's fighting action. The attack may have been the most effective one of all on the part of Dante and Hera so far, and they also make a good team, with Hera whose strength lies more in the field of magic and Dante as a physical talent, but this does not mean the end of the fight at all. Vergil gets up and immediately strikes out with his two blades. A diagonal blue and purple beam radiates out of both blades and races towards Dante and Hera. They have just enough speed of reaction to repel the beam with their melee weapons but are pushed back by the force.

They slide through the dark liquid Vergil has created and which appeared as a wave a few moments ago. That dark water also floods the hall and the corridor outside the room. Nero's back is soaked in it as well. He did not get up from the floor since Dante's blow and lies now, breathing heavily, near a corner of the hall.

"I think it's time for more guests ..." Vergil who is also gasping, even if this may not be as drastic as that of Nero, says.

Vergil's eyes light up brightly and when he slightly nods, Dante and Hera find themselves in a _sea of demons_. As a result, Nero disappears from Dante's as well as Hera's field of vision, and instead they may look at the beings consisting of all the skeletal demons they have encountered since the beginning of their adventure.

"Seriously?! They're allowed to join the party?! I thought this was only the area for VIPs!", Dante shouts across the room to address his words to Vergil who has disappeared in the demon horde.

"My thinkin' is that the mighty _Demon King_ just needs a break!" Hera replies.

"I'm quite satisfied with my choice of guests", Vergil's voice sounds and abruptly he can be seen on the gallery. "But if they bother you, feel free to _disinvite them yourself_!"

As if this sentence was the starting signal for the next stage of the fight, the horde pounces on Dante and Hera.

The duo carves out a little more space and as soon as this is done, Dante jumps up for a hail of bullets to expand it even more. All of a sudden Vergil appears in the air directly behind him and let his blades hurtle towards Dante from both sides.

Hera who is recognizing this - because it is not only the blue glow from Vergil's devil mode that stands out in color from the dull demons, thus making his presence very conspicuous, but also his blades which are now surrounded by a more intense and treacherous blue-purple energy - dashes up in the air with _Soul_ ahead.

As briskly and _out of the blue_ as Vergil appeared behind Dante, he disappears again. Hera only has to repel the strong energy resulting from Vergil's sword stroke with Sparda's blade, while Dante takes on the one from _Yamato_.

Even though Dante probably could have freed himself from the unfavorable situation, the jump up from Hera was not completely in vain because up here she has a better view of the battlefield and can actually see Nero in the hustle and bustle. The young man is just about to stand up. It is as if Vergil now had the capacity again or just feels like letting Nero rejoin in the fight. Where Vergil himself has disappeared to, Hera cannot make out.

Dante is back on the ground before Hera and right in the middle of the horde where he continues the fight against the demons. Flames and lightning which are caused by Dante's different weapons surround him, so that quickly one demon after the other gets killed.

"Same tactic as before?!" Dante says to Hera as she lands near him and gives him support.

"I'm in!" She responds, "Don't know where Vergil is but Nero's back in the game!"

"Okay ...!"

Hardly has she mentioned his name, he is already visible in the group of demons, striving his way through. Dante and Hera know very well that they are _Nero's_ target.

Reaching them, _Nero_ raises his sword against Hera. Dante blocks the blow for her while she keeps the demons in check. Then both Dante and Hera alternately have a short sword fight with _Nero_. Now the young man starts to use his revolver, but the shots land in the mass of demons. At the point where the last bullet shot by _Nero_ bounces off, Vergil appears as if from nowhere.

Executing several blows, Vergil sends his energies in the form of swords to Dante and Hera, and thus not only to _Nero_ as well but also to the demons. This causes the death of two creatures of Vergil's own produced _flock_. However, he seems not to mind that kind of loss.

Hera builds up another protective wall that covers her brother, Dante, and herself. In order to do this, Dante simultaneously has to engage in a sword fight with _Nero_ since he does not want to stop his offensive actions. However, this is probably not that bad because as long as _Nero_ is actively fighting Dante, he will stay close to him and thus within the protective barrier created by Hera.

Vergil lets arise another black wave and disappears. Hera has to fight against the dark force to keep the protective barrier from dissolving. This time, the wave is even more resistant. It does not whip against the transparent shield and then sinks back as normal water would do but the wave literally pushes against Hera's defense. The demons also beat and scratch at the shield while Dante continues trying to keep _Nero_ in check.

Both Dante and Hera clearly notice that the difficulty of the fight has increased many times over due to their actual opponent, Vergil - as if he were to gather strength to surprise Dante and Hera in certain moments. Just like in the current situation in which he has disappeared into nothingness, so that he can probably make further plans without ruffle or excitement.

Is the increased level a sign that Dante and Hera are very close to extinguishing the _Demon King_, so that he, in order to avoid such a scenario in any case, uses all of his available powers and _balls to the wall_? How long is the battle to last otherwise?

In terms of surprises, Hera has one up her sleeve.

"Okay, Dante, can you buy me some time?!"

"... For what...?! ... And how ...?!" Dante says strained since his blade crosses that of Nero, starting a trial of strength.

"I don't know how, but I need your help ...! ... Now!"

Hera's protective barrier gives in. Dante abruptly switches to the devil's mode and with the increased power he gains, he succeeds in pushing _Nero_ away from him. Once again _Nero_ falls to the ground, slides through the murky water, knocks over a few demons, and lands outside in the passage to the hall. To his left and right, Dante wildly deals blows and strokes which are also accompanied by flames and lightning. He also incorporates shots and now even switches to his cudgel whose tentacles he uses as a whip.

In the meantime, Hera was able to push the dark wave that threatened to break over their heads away from her and the devil hunter by means of a bright energy, and thus got rid of some more demons. While Dante, primarily as a physical fighter, single-handedly and busy, keeps the demons at bay from himself and Hera, the _Blood Angel_ uses all her strength to concentrate on her sword.

"... And when's somethin' happenin'?!" He calls to her. Because of the devil's mode, his voice sounds metallic.

Out of the corner of his right eye, he can see how _Nero_ is already rushing down the corridor towards the battlefield. Suddenly, another picture appears on his left: Vergil has emerged there and is standing directly behind Hera, his back turned to her. If one did not know it better, one might think he would want to back her.

Vergil pulls both swords forward and then up to let them rush towards Hera's back. Abruptly, Dante drops his focus on the demons and strikes a powerful blow at Vergil to stop him. Before the point of his blades even touch Hera's back, Vergil disappears. Dante's sword stroke, however, continues.

The blue-lilac energy which has been automatically released by Vergil through the sword stroke bounces off Dante's blade and is instead passed on to a demon that feels this power to the fullest. Having saved Hera from Vergil's attack, it is Dante himself who runs into danger of hurting her because the blade of his broadsword is still rushing towards Hera's back due to the momentum of his previous attack. Dante does not have enough reaction capacity to pull the blade back or to change the way of its cut. He manages only just to deactivate his _Devil Trigger_, thus creating a weakened version of a blow à la Dante.

_Rebellion_ does hit, but her sword _Soul_ and not herself. Hera became early enough aware of Vergil's ambush and was prepared for Dante's weapon.

Their blades are crossing. Hera grins contentedly at him as she speaks:

"We have a new friend."

Dante's gaze wanders over Hera's head towards the figure that has emerged behind her. He looks directly into the eye sockets of a skeleton demon. This one, however, is different in its appearance from those he was allowed to make do with before. The figure is much larger than the others. Long, black, and frizzy hair sprouts towards the demon's left side, and an old, dirty bandage is wrapped around the mouth. Dante continues to peer over Hera's right shoulder and recognizes the aubergine-colored, scuffed piece of fabric that covers part of the ribcage and extends to the kneecaps.

This demon is now preparing to take on fighting the rest of the creatures with bow and arrow and is also providing support for Dante and Hera.

"... Nice to meet you ...?" The demon hunter says seemingly perplexed.

He removes his blade from that of Hera, turns his body to the right side energetically, and thunders his sword against Nero's. Hera has imitated Dante's movement in parallel, just that she turned her body to her right side, so that she now may _welcome_ Vergil next to her, clashing her blade, _Soul_, against his weapons.

Dante does not want to hurt Nero any further unnecessarily. He knows that Vergil wants just that. Dante's patience for another swordfight with _Nero_, however, is coming to an end; just as he is longing for the end of this final fight. Vergil's teleportation abilities should be prevented. On him should last such fast and powerful series of attacks that he gets _pinned down_ to not be able to escape.

The devil hunter headbutts _Nero_. Then he delivers a blow to his belly which makes _Nero_ writhe in pain, and afterwards he hits him to the ground with his elbow. Needless to say, Dante was careful not to discharge electricity from his _brass knuckles_.

"... Take it as a little revenge for the punches you _presented_ me with when we first met", Dante says to _Nero_ as he bends down, reaches for _Red Queen_, and rams it into the demon hand of the young man.

He screams in pain. His voice is still accompanied by a deep, demonic sound. In addition to that noise it is to hear that Vergil must have suffered damage also.

Abruptly, Hera stops her attacks on Vergil whom she has been able to keep busy in the meantime, and turns towards Dante.

"What are you doing?! Are you insane?!"

"That arm ain't his anyway! It belongs to _him_!" Dante points with _Rebellion_ at Vergil who has slightly bent in pain and is now straightening his body again. "Well, my friend. I think it's about time to get you from the dance floor and to finish the party!"


End file.
